Counterfeit

Martin Gore has always been the most interesting of the Depeche Mode mob. While Dave Gahan successfully played the pop (and later rock) star to excess, Gore’s bleached blond was ploughing its unique furrow through the murky realms of the subconscious, from the leather-toting S&M of ‘Master And Servant’ through to the naked romance of ‘Somebody’. Strange, perhaps, that he has chosen to record an album of cover versions. But if you’re gonna sing someone else’s songs, you might as well choose the finest songwriters around and Gore has: the credits read like a who’s who of modern masters, from Dylan to Lennon, Cave to Weill, Bowie to Reed.

On Julee Cruise’s ‘In My Other World’, you can almost picture the foppish youth who sang ‘A Question Of Lust’, while on ‘Lost In The Stars’ he sounds like a seasoned cabaret crooner. Our anti-hero is further transformed into a world-weary troubador on Lou’s paean to beautiful losers, ‘Candy Says’, which is almost unrecognisable from Reed’s original.

Nick Cave’s ‘Loverman’ is a massive, magnificent centrepiece: seven minutes of barely-restrained lust and pure physicality, raw sexuality wrapped up in a pulsating, serrated rhythm that sucks you into its seductive embrace, before grinding you up and spitting you out the other side feeling used and dirty.

Both His Bobness’ ‘In My Time Of Dying’ and the John-and-Yoko-penned ‘Oh My Love’ are transformed into brooding, sparse electro-pop standards, so much so that I’m sure The The’s Matt Johnson is green with envy. David Essex’s ‘Stardust’ sounds like it’s got a makeover from Bowie, and its stop-start futuristic workshop is surprisingly one of the standouts and wouldn’t seem out of place as the soundtrack to Fritz Lang’s Metropolis.

Perhaps Gore’s finest achievement with Counterfeit is that all 11 songs gel seamlessly and flow as smoothly as if this was a collection of originals from the same mean and moody pen. A compelling, heartfelt journey through some of the most beautiful, sombre, reflective songs ever written. Dark magic, but magic nonetheless.