According to the Quietus, Depeche Mode is working on a new LP which will be released later this year. While talking about his new VCMG project, SSSS, coming out on March 12th on Mute, Martin Gore announced he was also writing for Depeche Mode:
‘It's was a nice break for me to be able to go and do something completely different that doesn't involve poring over lyrics and having to think about vocal melodies'
‘I think I went back to actually writing for the band with much more vigour afterwards, because I had taken such a break. It gave me a real creative impetus.’
However, he is keeping the two projects separated from each other, and we won’t hear the VCMG techno-pop influence on Depeche Mode’s new record:
‘I went straight from finishing the VCMG record into writing for the band, I think even though I used a lot of the same kind of instrumentation, I immediately went into a completely different headspace. The stuff I've been doing for the band is completely different to VCMG.’
Apparently he was missing playing guitar, since VCMG, which also features ex-Depeche Mode member Vince Clarke, essentially deals with synthesizers:
‘Working on the VCMG record, obviously I didn't look at a guitar for that whole period because it just wasn't right – so the moment I started getting back to writing songs for the band then I'm picking up the guitar, I'm going on the piano, working on chords, just working completely differently.’
Depeche Mode will start recording next month and are ‘hoping to be finished by the end of the year.’
Meanwhile, you can even have a taste of VCMG on soundcloud, if you are into this kind of techno-club dry beats: