If I were writing about Depeche Mode twenty years ago when they were first hitting their stride, I never would have believed they would still be recording in 2009. I certainly wouldn't have thought they would be capable of producing relevant music for as long as they have. Until 1993's Songs of Faith and Devotion Depeche Mode was basically a band that produced electronic dance music. Some of it happened to be nothing short of revelatory, but it was dance music nonetheless. Three decades since the band's formation and still nobody else sounds like them. Depeche Mode's latest release, Sounds of the Universe is something of a grower. On my first listen I was fairly unimpressed. Further rotations improved my appreciation, though. It's nigh impossible to go into an album from a band that has more or less maintained a cohesive sound for the better part of its career without bringing some unfair expectations along for the ride. I found that I expected Sounds to have a faster pace and an all-around more dancey sound, though those expectations were entirely unfounded. Preconceptions left behind, the album remains a decent but flawed release. The opener, "In Chains", sets the mood well. It sounds like a classic Depeche Mode track and assures the listener that Dave Gahan still has his distinctive pipes and the band still has its dark, layered sensibility. By the end of the second track, "Hole to Feed" the album definitely yearns for a sharp pick-up. It's a serviceable but unnecessarily wan song. Thankfully, third in line is the promotional single "Wrong". It's one of the best songs on the album and a fine demonstration of the carefully crafted industrial tone that pervades much of Sounds. The jumpy twitch on "Fragile Tension" is very welcome. If a slower track were in its place it would hopelessly drag down the rest of the album. The track that threatens to do that is fifth in line, "Little Soul", which borders on annoying and is eminently skippable. "In Sympathy" does much better, sounding like a vast improvement on the sounds first explored on 2001's Exciter. The real standout track on Sounds of the Universe is "Peace". It has a wonderful, somewhat spiritual harmony as its centerpiece and longtime fans should get some satisfaction from Gahan's unusually upbeat lyrics. It's a song about a man officially getting past his personal demons, but not without a touch of irony. At this point in the album things drop off a bit. "Come Back" and "Spacewalker" both feel half-finished and a bit filler-y. "Perfect", on the other hand, is a pretty and grown-up track with some of the album's best lyrics. I actually wasn't fond of it on my first listen, but I warmed to it and now it's one of my favorites. In the case of "Miles Away", I only wish there were more songs on the album like it. Its weird beeps and dissonance are artful. The track sounds like stepping into an alien dance club, in a good way. I do so dearly wish Sounds of the Universe ended differently. "Jezebel" comes dangerously close to being arch, though it never quite captures that sublime level of camp. Even if it did, it would be ill-fitting for this album anyway. As for "Corrupt", it sounds like somebody doing a particularly competent Depeche Mode parody. It's not a bad song, it's just at the wrong end of predictable. All in all, Sounds of the Universe is half of a spectacular album. When it's good it's some of the best Depeche Mode has done in years, but the rest of it just drags. There are enough interesting songs here to make it worth the purchase, but a little iTunes-style cherry-picking would be completely understandable.