LOVE A LA MODE

“BLACK CELEBRATION.” Depeche Mode. Sire. David Gahan’s alternately husky and breathy vocals are emotive, and the blend of warm tones with ominous chugs and clangs makes these sleek, modernistic and enigmatic songs a perfect sound track for tentative love in the industrial age. Songwriter Martin Gore has pulled off a double-whammy, backing evocative, thoughtful lyrics with a seamless suite of danceable, hummable melodies. The tension builds and releases as Gore periodically wrests aside his bleak cynicism to let vulnerability and hope gleam through. Thus, the utter despair of “Fly on the Windscreen” eventually gives way to a tender homily to home and security in “Here Is the House.” But the best is saved for the last track, “But Not Tonight,” a bouncy, refreshing exultation about new beginnings and being alone but not lonely. Rarely has introspection been so tuneful.