Electro rock pioneers Depeche Mode have announced details of a new album and tour for 2017, which will see the band perform their first UK stadium show in over 20 years.
The band made the announcement at a global press conference in Milan, Italy, where they revealed that the new album, entitled Spirit, will be released in early Spring 2017. Though the album is not yet finished, the band did offer media and fans a brief snippet of their new music, which frontman Dave Gahan described as sound “uplifting and thought-provoking”.
“We are incredibly proud of Spirit’s sound and energy,” he added. “And we’re excited to get back on tour to share it with our fans around the world.”
The album is produced by James Ford, who has worked with the likes of Arctic Monkeys, Florence and the Machine, Mumford & Sons, Little Boots and more. He is also a founding member of Simian Mobile Disco.
In addition to the album, the group revealed details of the first leg of their 2017 European tour. Though more dates are set to be added, the tour currently features one UK concert – a night at the London Stadium on June 3. The show will mark their first UK stadium gig since 1993, when they headlined at Crystal Palace National Sports Centre. The tour is being dubbed as the Global Spirit Tour.
The tour will play to over 1.5 million people across 32 cities in 21 countries, kicking off on May 5 at Stockholm’s Friends Arena and concluding on July 23 in Cluj-Napoca, Romania.
While the band avoided answering any questions about the new album, they did address the issue of diminishing album sales and the negative impact it is having upon up and coming artists.
When asked what concerns the band most about today’s music industry, Andy ‘Fletch’ Fletcher said: “I find it frustrating that smaller bands are finding it more difficult to get to the top, with very low record sales and radio stations not really playing much new stuff. That’s very frustrating and it makes us feel very lucky that when we were around it was totally different.”
Tickets for the tour go on sale on Friday, October 14. See below for tour dates in full.
May 5 Stockholm, Sweden Friends Arena
May 7 Amsterdam, Netherlands Ziggo Dome
May 9 Antwerp, Belgium Sportpaleis
May 12 Nice, France Stade Charles-Ehrmann
May 14 Ljubljana, Slovenia Dvorana Stožice
May 17 Athens, Greece Terra Vibe Park
May 20 Bratislava, Slovakia Štadión Pasienky
May 22 Budapest, Hungary Groupama Aréna
May 24 Prague, Czech Republic Eden Aréna
May 27 Leipzig, Germany Festwiese
May 29 Lille, France Stade Pierre-Mauroy
May 31 Copenhagen, Denmark Telia Parken
June 3 London, United Kingdom London Stadium
June 5 Cologne, Germany RheinEnergieStadion
June 9 Munich, Germany Olympiastadion
June 11 Hannover, Germany HDI Arena
June 18 Zurich, Switzerland Letzigrund Stadion
June 20 Frankfurt, Germany Commerzbank-Arena
June 22 Berlin, Germany Olympiastadion
June 25 Rome, Italy Stadio Olimpico
June 27 Milan, Italy Stadio San Siro
June 29 Bologna, Italy Stadio Rentao Dall’Ara
July 1 Paris, France Stade de France
July 4 Gelsenkirchen, Germany Veltins-Arena
July 6 Bilbao, Spain BBK Live Festival
July 8 Lisbon, Portugal NOS Alive Festival
July 13 St. Petersburg, Russia SKK
July 15 Moscow, Russia Otkritie Arena
July 17 Minsk, Belarus Minsk-Arena
July 19 Kiev, Ukraine Olimpiyskiy National Sports Complex
July 21 Warsaw, Poland PGE Narodowy
July 23 Cluj-Napoca, Romania Cluj Arena
