The world premiere of Heaven, the first single off Depeche Mode’s forthcoming new album Delta Machine, took place recently when the song was first aired two weeks ago by Los Angeles radio station KROQ during its January 30 morning show, one day earlier than had originally been planned.

It’s got a bit of a feel of Violator on some of the songs and a feel of Songs of Faith and Devotion on others

News of the exclusive broadcast spread like wildfire among the internet music blogging community, adding to the buzz already present after the band’s main songwriter Martin Gore had hinted the album looks back to the band’s glory days.

“It’s got a bit of a feel of Violator on some of the songs and a feel of Songs of Faith and Devotion on others,” Gore was quoted as saying on the KROQ website. “It’s a bit of a hybrid of those two for me.” According to further comments by Gore, writing the new album was a daunting experience. “I want people to feel good about listening to this record, to get some kind of peace. It’s just got something magical about it,” he said.

In a separate comment, band frontman Dave Gahan said that with this album “we’ve completely shifted our idea of how to create an album.

“When we hit a wall where we realise the album is beginning to sound too normal, we’ll mess it up and really give it that organic Depeche Mode sound.”

Depeche Mode’s 13th album, which was recorded over the past 12 months in New York and Santa Barbara, California, where Gore now lives, is scheduled for release on March 26.

www.depechemode.com