Soulsavers will release their new album ‘The Light The Dead See’ through Cooperative Music/V2 Records on May 21st in the U.K. and May 22nd in the U.S. However, Mute Records is giving fans the opportunity to stream the upcoming album.

Featuring vocals and lyrics by Dave Gahan, ‘The Light The Dead See’ is the follow-up to 2009’s critically acclaimed album ‘Broken’. Recorded at various locations and mastered at Abbey Road, the record will be available on CD, LP and as a download.

“There was no real script,” says the laconic Rich Machin of the extraordinary fourth album ‘The Light The Dead See’, a set of songs of majesty and momentum. “It just rolled and rolled; it was effortless.” Yet the writing was on the wall from the moment Dave Gahan stepped in to tackle vocal duties that this was going to be something very special. “We realised we were coming from the same place in so many ways,” adds Machin. “He’s really laid himself bare on this record, his performances are astonishing: he really is a terrific singer.”

Says Gahan, “Everything about it was relatively unplanned, surprising: a magical thing. We were a perfect match and I’m very, very excited about this record.”

Gahan’s lyrics and melodies came to him with spontaneity and passion. “About five songs in, I realised I was writing outside myself. I was having a go at myself, to be honest: my questions around faith, and God, or the lack thereof at any given moment. Sometimes I’m full of faith, but there are always questions. And I struggle with letting go of control of what’s going on around me. This album became very therapeutic. No restrictions. Coming out of getting sick myself, I found I HAD to get this stuff out of me. This music gave me the perfect palate to play with the BIG questions that we all ask when life becomes less about what can we GET, than: what can we DO? I’ve been very fortunate, and I’m privileged in my life, so I want to do things I feel really connected to now, otherwise there’s no point. Rich and I had both come out of something difficult. This is something to do with that. It was a wonderful experience.”

From June 1st, in conjunction with Umatik Entertainment, Shunt Production will be accepting pre-orders for the Recoil concert film ‘A Strange Hour In Budapest’, to be released on Blu-ray. This is a full HD production with DTS-HD 5.1 surround sound & stereo audio soundtrack, mixed by Alan Wilder & Paul Kendall.

Directed and edited by Attila Herkó, ‘A Strange Hour In Budapest’ will be delivered as a Blu-ray only format, presented in a deluxe DVD-sized 6 panel digi-pack with reinforced slipcase, containing a 170gm 16-page booklet packed with information & photo manipulations by Ákos Szénási. With the first 1000 copies individually hand-stamped/numbered, the disc will also feature extra promotional films & live projections.

The concert film will initially be available to pre-order via the Recoil Official Store, and later at other on-line and retail outlets via Alfa Matrix. All store on-line orders are dispatched with an exclusive code to receive downloadable extras such as a pdf art booklet with extra spreads, a soundtrack sampler, Recoil ‘live’ photographs & project wallpapers.

A website devoted to the release is now live at: http://bluray.recoil.co.uk This site will continue to be updated with additional news about the project, including more complete details of extra downloads, an exclusive Recoil USB stick with additional content, Blu-ray player recommendations & other technical information, so please keep checking in there.

Note: It has been decided to limit the main format to Blu-ray because the film works infinitely better at its highest resolution and Alan does not want to compromise this aspect. Secondly, Blu-ray players are cheap and simple to install these days. If you haven’t upgraded yet, now is the time to do so!

Format details:

‘A STRANGE HOUR IN BUDAPEST’ Blu-ray
(deluxe digi-pack with 170gm 16-page booklet.
First 1000 copies come individually hand-stamped / numbered)

Contents:

A STRANGE HOUR IN BUDAPEST
Running time: 84 minutes

PROMOTIONAL FILMS
Running time: 21 minutes

WANT (Renegade of Noise 808 remix)
PREY (Shotgun mix)
ALLELUJAH (subHuman album version)

Directed by: Dmitry Semenov

LIVE PROJECTIONS
Running time: 16 minutes

Directed by: Steve Fabian, Igor Dvorský & Dmitry Semenov

Download package
(free with store purchase of Blu-ray)

Contents:

1) 8 minute ‘A Strange Hour In Budapest’ soundtrack sampler – choice of 24bit wav or 320 kbps mp3
2) PDF Art booklet – 24 page Blu-ray booklet including additional spreads
3) Approx. 75 x high res Recoil live photographs & film stills
4) Project wallpapers for smartphone, iPad and computer screen

Recoil USB stick
(Special edition custom-designed 8GB USB stick, with assets pre-loaded)

Contents:

1) Full 84 minute stereo soundtrack – choice of 24bit wav, 16bit Apple Lossless, FLAC or 320 kbps mp3
2) 3 x ‘A Strange Hour 2′ reconstructions – stereo audio – choice of 24bit wav or 320 kbps mp3
3) Extended trailer for ‘A Strange Hour In Budapest’ – approx 5 minutes : 1080p HD mp4
4) PDF Art booklet – 24 page Blu-ray booklet including additional spreads
5) Approx. 75 x high res Recoil live photographs & film stills
6) Project wallpapers for smartphone, iPad and computer screen

Background:

‘A Strange Hour’ was presented during 2010 & 2011 in 52 cities across the world as part of the ‘Selected Events’ tour to celebrate 25 years of the Recoil project.

Says Alan: “The idea to take Recoil out on the road evolved during the release of ‘Selected’ in 2010. The events were not so much ‘live’ band but more art installation featuring stripped down, edited sections from many Recoil remixes and alternative versions. For the presentations, I managed to gather together filmmakers from as far as Russia, via the Czech Republic and Hungary, all the way to Argentina.

One of the most memorable moments of the entire tour came about, strangely enough, through adversity. Who can forget ‘Eyjafjallajökull’ and the major headaches and logistical nightmares it caused? Back in April 2010, the Icelandic mountain awoke, spewing its contents into the stratosphere and reaping havoc on the very same day Recoil was due to fly from London to Budapest. After an eternal struggle via airports, train stations, traffic jams, manic phone calls and confusion all round, 12 hours after leaving home my team and I found ourselves back on my own doorstep having got precisely zero kilometers towards the Hungarian capital. The last resort and only option was to drive (in my own car) through the channel tunnel and no less than 7 countries from West Sussex to Diesel club, Budapest – a journey of some 21 hours non stop. Word got around (while others were canceling shows left, right and centre) that, against all the odds, we were on our way – and when we arrived with about 1 hour to spare, what greeted us was one of the most vociferous and appreciative crowds on the whole tour.

To cut a long story short, we wanted to come back, not least to finally see a little of this beautiful city, but most of all to play once again to the warm Hungarian public. The second Budapest presentation and last of 2010 was held in the beautiful newly-renovated Szikra venue. To celebrate this end of year special show we decided to install an extra large fully professional cinema screen and projector. The screen measured a giant 8 x 5 meters and covered the entire stage area.

The performance was filmed using the latest high-definition technology in order to capture the event in its full glory. For this (with the help of the local promoters), the team from Umatik was recruited, headed up by director Attila (‘Atus’) Herkó, and in a similar way to the stage projections, we worked remotely on the editing – I gave feedback to rough edits which Atus sent to me whilst Paul Kendall & I simultaneously worked on the surround sound mix, and everything was refined from there. I think you will agree Attila’s film is stunning and offers a captivating and exhilarating document of ‘A Strange Hour’.”

‘A STRANGE HOUR IN BUDAPEST’

Recorded & filmed at: Szikra, Budapest : 04.12.2010
Produced, directed & edited by: Attila Herkó for Umatik
Executive producer: Alan Wilder
Stereo & 5.1 soundtrack mix: Alan Wilder and Paul Kendall

Main film: 1920 x 1080p High Definition : 16:9
Audio: DTS-HD MA 5.1 surround : LPCM Stereo 2.0
Extra material: 1080p HD 16:9 : LPCM Stereo 2.0
(Note: This is a zone-free all region disc which will play in any Blu-ray player)

Distribution:

Recoil Official Store: www.store.recoil.co.uk
Alfa Matrix: www.alfa-matrix.com
For further information, please contact: shunt@recoil.co.uk

2012 UMATIK ENTERTAINMENT and SHUNT PRODUCTION

Source: Recoil

Warner Brothers published a video interview with Depeche Mode from 1993, as part of their ‘From The Vaults’ series on The Warner Sound.

‘From The Vaults’ is the weekly unveiling of the documentaries, interviews, and performances unearthed from the Warner library.

Radio DJ Paul Gambaccini interviews the members of Depeche Mode at home and in the studio in this exclusive documentary footage from 1993 for ‘From The Vaults’ on The Warner Sound.

Depeche Mode have released their first studio video clip, displaying a time lapse of the studio setup. The first round of the recordings for the new album is now completed, and the boys are having a break until June.

Ferg Peterkin is involved again in the recording of the new album. The London based producer also worked with Depeche Mode on their last album ‘Sounds Of The Universe’.

A teaser for the upcoming Blu-ray release of ‘A Strange Hour in Budapest’. ‘A Strange Hour’ was presented during 2010 and 2011 in 52 cities across the world as part of the ‘Selected Events’ tour to celebrate 25 years of the Recoil project.

Says Alan: “The idea to take Recoil out on the road evolved during the release of ‘Selected’ in 2010. The events were not so much ‘live’ band but more art installation featuring stripped down, edited sections from many Recoil remixes and alternative versions. For the presentations, I managed to gather together filmmakers from as far as Russia, via the Czech Republic and Hungary, all the way to Argentina.

The second Budapest presentation (and last of 2010) was held in the beautiful newly-renovated Szikra venue. To celebrate this end of year special show we decided to install an extra large fully professional cinema screen and projector. The performance was filmed by Attila Herkó and his team using the latest high-definition technology in order to capture the event in its full glory. I think you will agree the results are stunning and offer a captivating and exhilarating document of ‘A Strange Hour’.”

The proposed package will feature the full concert film, running at approximately 84 minutes in HD resolution and with 5.1 & stereo audio options. Also included will be some extra promo films and live projections. It has been decided to limit the format to Blu-ray only for a couple of reasons – the main being that the film works infinitely better at its highest resolution and we don’t want to compromise this aspect. Secondly, Blu-ray players are cheap and simple to install these days. If you haven’t upgraded yet, now is the time to do so! In due course we will recommend a few of our favourite machines at varying budgets.

The exact release date has yet to be determined but we hope to announce this very soon.

Title: A Strange Hour in Budapest
Produced, directed & edited by : Attila Herkó for Umatik
Stereo & 5.1 soundtrack : Alan Wilder & Paul Kendall
Main film : 1920 x 1080p High Definition, 16 x 9
Audio : DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround : LPCM Stereo 2.0

Source: Recoil