(Single from album, “Delta Machine”)
Basildon’s favourite synth-pop quartet-come-trio has endured something of an inconsistent career, spanning a regardlessly noteworthy 30 years since the squelchy first days with Vince Clarke. Their awesome 1981 debut, “Speak & Spell”, serves to remind us how in recent years, despite continuing success on the rock scene, the world’s most popular electronic act have started run out of the digital steam that made them so big in the past. Whilst a couple of songs since 1990’s epitaph-like “Violator” have served as a reminder of the Mode we once new, including even a few tracks from this year’s “Delta Machine” like “Angel” and “Broken”, there is, as ever it would seem, an overwhelming, general lack of substance to the band’s new material.
“Should Be Higher” is aggravating because it wants to be so much bigger than it is, striving to reach 80’s DM heights when less than 10 of their songs have managed that in twice as many years. Whilst there are elements here that truly have the spine tingling, they are few and far between; Gahan’s clambering vocal at the chorus (‘love is all I want’) is one of these hair-raising moments and, preceding it, the synths at the start – promisingly dirty in the bass and surreptitiously springy in the treble. Overall though, it is essentially, a forgettable track – and yet still not one that is quite eligible for the scrap-heap, clinging onto life with its incredibly clean Ben Hillier production and sinister edge. So I suppose, in a way, this is a ‘good’ song – to me however, it acts as a real signpost toward the band’s weaker material, and subsequently, only just keeps a three star rating…
★★★
Versions of "Should Be Higher"
Album/Single Version - 5:04
Jim Jones Revue Remix - 5:15
Little Vampire Remix - 5:30
MAPS Remix - 5:42
Jim Sclavunos from Grinderman Remix - 4:11
Spike Single Mix - 3:29
Truss Remix - 6:21
MPIA3 Definition - 5:52
Koen Groenveveld Massive Remix - 6:43
Pangaea Dub Remix - 4:13
Überzone Remix - 4:57
DJMREX Dub Remix - 6:24