New Life (song) explained

New Life
Cover:DepecheModeNewLife7.jpg
Type:single
Artist:Depeche Mode
Album:Speak & Spell
B-Side:Shout!
Released:5 June 1981
Recorded:May 1981
Studio:Blackwing (London)
Genre:Synth-pop[1]
Length:
  • 3:43 (album version)
  • 3:58 (12″ remix)
Label:Mute
Producer:
Prev Title:Dreaming of Me
Prev Year:1981
Next Title:Just Can't Get Enough
Next Year:1981

"New Life" is the second single by English electronic music band Depeche Mode from their debut studio album Speak & Spell, originally released on 5 June 1981.[2] It was not commercially released in the United States.

Background

Vince Clarke wrote the song.[3] There were two versions of the song available. The 7″ version would later become the "album version", as it would eventually appear on the UK version of Speak & Spell, released in October 1981, and a 12″ "remix", which differs from the album version, in that it has a different intro, intensely percussive and harder, and an added synth part in the "solo" vocal section in the middle of the song, which is not present on the 7″ mix. The "remix" would later appear on the US version of Speak & Spell.

The single became Depeche Mode's breakthrough hit in the UK, peaking at #11.[4] [5] On 25 June 1981, the band performed "New Life" during their debut on the BBC's Top of the Pops. The band would perform the song twice more on the show, on 16 July and 30 July 1981.

The B-side, "Shout!", is the first Depeche Mode song to get a 12″ extended remix, called the "Rio mix". This mix would later appear on the remix compilation Remixes 81–04, released in 2004. It is the earliest recorded song available on the compilation.

Track listing

All tracks written by Vince Clarke

7″: Mute / 7Mute14 (UK)

  1. "New Life" – 3:43
  2. "Shout!" – 3:44

12″: Mute / 12Mute14 (UK)

  1. "New Life" (remix) – 3:58
  2. "Shout!" (Rio mix) – 7:31

CD: Mute / Intercord / CDMute14 / INT 826.800 (West Germany) – released in 1988

  1. "New Life" (remix) – 3:58
  2. "Shout!" (Rio mix) – 7:31
  3. "New Life" (7″ version) – 3:43

CD: Mute / CDMute14 (UK) – released in 1991

  1. "New Life" (remix) – 3:58
  2. "Shout!" – 3:44
  3. "Shout!" (Rio mix) – 7:31

CD: Sire / 40290-2 (US) – released in 1991

  1. "New Life" (remix) – 3:58
  2. "Shout!" – 3:44
  3. "Shout!" (Rio mix) – 7:31

Charts

Chart (1981)! scope="col"
Peak
position
UK Indie (MRIB)[6] 1

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: A Question of Lust: Depeche Mode's Black Celebration Revisited . . 4 March 2011 . 27 August 2015 . Freeman, John.
  2. Web site: Music week. 22.
  3. Book: Music . BBC Radio 6 . BBC Radio 6 Music's Alternative Jukebox: 500 Extraordinary Tracks That Tell the Story of Alternative Music . 2014-10-13 . Octopus . 978-1-84403-814-5 . 130 . 29 May 2021 . en.
  4. Book: Bernhardt . Tonia . Depeche Mode: A Band, Its Music, and the Cult . 2007-11-21 . GRIN Verlag . 978-3-638-76757-6 . 3 . 29 May 2021 . en.
  5. Book: Christopher . Michael . Depeche Mode FAQ: All That's Left to Know About the World's Finest Synth-Pop Band . 2020-12-28 . . 978-1-4930-5400-8 . 5 . 29 May 2021 . en.
  6. Book: Lazell, Barry . Depeche Mode . http://www.cherryred.co.uk/books/indiehits/d.htm . Indie Hits 1980–1989: The Complete U.K. Independent Charts (Singles & Albums) . . 1997 . 0-95172-069-4 . 4 May 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20110605132747/http://www.cherryred.co.uk/books/indiehits/d.htm . 5 June 2011.