Dave Gahan & Soulsavers: Angels & Ghosts review – doomy ballads from Depeche Mode frontman

Angels & Ghosts is effectively Dave Gahan’s second album with Soulsavers, as the Depeche Mode frontman sang on almost every track of production duo Rich Machin and Ian Glover’s 2012 set The Light the Dead See. This time they’ve aimed for a live sound with the intention of performing these songs on tour. Gone are Depeche Mode’s shiny synths of yore: Angels & Ghosts’ default position is the doom-laden, mid-paced ballad. Gahan sings with unsparing emotional commitment against Soulsavers’ canvas of gospel-tinged backing vocals, ghostly organ and big minor chords. The brooding One Thing hopes for contentment at small things (“tasteless shows on our TV”) while retaining a sense of wonder. Gahan’s lyrics are broad-brush, such as those on current single All of This and Nothing, which swells to an impressive finish (“I’m the sun that rises while you’re sleeping”), and opening track Shine, a textbook stadium-pleaser about a light that all too predictably “shines on you”.