Dave Gahan - Hourglass

Where Paper Monsters saw Dave Gahan peeping his head out from Depeche Mode's shadow to make an overdue claim as a songwriter, the bolder, comparatively bombastic Hourglass solidifies his abilities as an all rounder while that unshakable baritone reasserts his rock god credentials.

Both epic and minimalist, the album's combination of grand production and sparse electronic arrangement is everything to be expected of a DM release, with the sleazy cyber blues of Use You and the crushing majesty of A Little Lie evoking the masochistic trauma that Songs of Faith and Devotion articulated before them. But this is much more engrossing than a phoned in homage to Gahan's day job and the feeling that he lives inside these songs is vivid: religion, deviance, control and agoraphobia take their forthright places as the general predilections behind this 50 minute rollercoaster of synthesised gothic pop rock.

Coming from a man who has largely lived life as a rock 'n' roll archetype - having died for two minutes as a symptom of those excesses - and who reputedly used to spend 12 hours a day speaking to a puppet inside a wardrobe, how marvellous it is to finally feel as though we're seeing something of the world through a rejuvenated Gahan's eyes. (Johnny Langlands)