Depeche Mode: More Modest Than U2

Is Depeche Mode's new album, Sound Of The Universe, their last?

Keyboardist Andrew "Fletch" Fletcher told an Italian interviewer in 2003 that he felt he and his bandmates only had one or two albums left in them. If that were true, Sounds Of The Universe (the follow-up to 2005's Playing The Angel that arrives in stores on April 21) would be the band's 12th and final release. But Fletcher now assures CHARTattack that they're not quitting anytime soon.

"We do have to be realistic for our age," explains the 47-year-old over the phone from New York City before starting rehearsals for the band's Tour Of The Universe. "And it does seem to take a lot longer between records these days.

"The whole of 2007, Martin [Gore, guitarist/keyboardist] was writing songs for this.

"But we've made no plans to retire, no. We're in a good state of mind at the moment, and I think that we've got a couple of records left."

Depeche Mode's staying power puts them just slightly behind U2 on the tiny list of '80s new wave survivors still writing hits and selling out stadiums worldwide. But Fletcher claims there's one big difference between his U.K. trio and the Irish superstars:

"We are modest. We are not like U2, who want to be the biggest band in the world. Most of what we've done, we did by accident."

Fans of Depeche Mode's songs of faith and devotion need not fear that Sounds Of The Universe (or the albums yet to come) will veer off the band's trademark synth-pop styling into Zooropa or Pop territory.

"We don't seem to have the time to do anything experimental, to be honest," Fletcher says. "Maybe we could do a film soundtrack or something like that, but we've pretty much settled into this routine at the moment.

"It's something that maybe we could have done earlier on in our career. But I do always think that we moved along with the times as well. We're retrofuturistic."

You can see Depeche Mode here:

May 6 Luxembourg, Luxembourg @ Rockhal
May 10 Tel Aviv, Israel @ Ramat Gan Stadium
May 12 Athens, Greece @ Terra Vibe Park
May 14 Istanbul, Turkey @ Santral
May 16 Bucharest, Romania @ Parc Izvor
May 18 Sofia, Bulgaria @ Vasil Levski Stadium
May 20 Belgrade, Serbia @ Usce Park (Tuborg Greenfest)
May 21 Zagreb, Croatia @ Arena (Tuborg Greenfest)
May 23 Warsaw, Poland @ Gwardia Stadium
May 25 Riga, Latvia @ Skonto Stadium
May 27 Vilnius, Lithuania @ Zalgirio Stadionas
May 30 London, England @ O2 Arena
May 31 Landgraaf, Netherlands @ Pinkpop Festival
June 2 Hamburg, Germany @ HSH Nordbank Arena
June 4-5 Dusseldorf, Germany @ LTU Arena
June 7-8 Leipzig, Germany @ Zentralstadion
June 10 Berlin, Germany @ Olympiastadion
June 12 Frankfurt, Germany @ Commerzbank Arena
July 13 Munich, Germany @ Olympiastadion
June 16 Rome, Italy @ Stadio Olimpico
July 18 Milan, Italy @ Stadio San Siro
July 20 Werchter, Belgium @ TW Classic Festival
July 22 Bratislava, Slovakia @ Inter Stadium
July 23 Budapest, Hungary @ Puskas Ferenc Stadium
July 25 Prague, Czech Republic @ Slavia Stadium
July 27 Paris, France @ Stade De France
July 28 Nancy, France @ Zenith Amphitheatre
July 30 Copenhagen, Denmark @ Parken Stadium
July 2 Bergen, Norway @ Bergenhus Festning
July 3 Arvika, Sweden @ Arvika Festival
July 6 Carcassonne, France @ Esplanade Gambetta
July 8 Valladolid, Spain @ Jose Zorilla Stadium
July 9 Bilbao, Spain @ Bilbao BBK Live Festival
July 11 Porto, Portugal @ Super Bock Super Rock Festival
July 12 Seville, Spain @ Olimpic Stadium
July 14 Toronto, ON @ Molson Amphitheatre
July 25 Montreal, QC @ Bell Centre
July 28 Bristow, VA @ Nissan Pavilion
July 31 Boston, MA @ Comcast Center
Aug. 1 Atlantic City, NJ @ Borgata
Aug. 3-4 New York, NY @ Madison Square Garden
Aug. 10 Seattle, WA @ Key Arena
Aug. 12 Mountain View, CA @ Shoreline Amphitheatre
Aug. 14 San Diego, CA @ Cricket Wireless Amphitheatre
Aug. 16-17 Los Angeles, CA @ Hollywood Bowl
Aug. 19 Anaheim, CA @ Honda Center
Aug. 20 Santa Barbara, CA @ Santa Barbara Bowl
Aug. 22 Las Vegas, NV @ Pearl Concert Theatre
Aug. 23 Phoenix, AZ @ US Air
Aug. 25 Salt Lake City, UT @ E Center
Aug. 27 Morrison, CO @ Red Rocks Amphitheatre
Aug. 29 Dallas, TX @ Superpages.com Center
Aug. 30 Spring, TX @ Cynthia W. Mitchell Pavilion
Sept. 1 Atlanta, GA @ Lakewood Amphitheater
Sept. 4 Tampa, FL @ Ford Amphitheater
Sept. 5 Fort Lauderdale, FL @ BankAtlantic Center
Oct. 1 Guadalajara, Mexico @ Arena V.F.G.
Oct. 3 Mexico City, Mexico @ Foro Sol
Dec. 10 Dublin, Ireland @ O2 Arena
Dec. 12 Glasgow, Ireland @ Scottish Exhibition & Conference Centre
Dec. 13 Birmingham, England @ LG Arena
Dec. 15-16 London, England @ O2 Arena
Dec. 18 Manchester, England @ Manchester Evening News Arena