A Broken Frame

With Vince Clarke departed and Martin Gore in the songwriter’s chair, A Broken Frame is Depeche Mode exploring their sound with impressive assurance. “The Meaning of Love” and “A Photograph of You” maintain the energy and infectiousness of Speak & Spell, but “See You” leads its pop hook down a dark alley of a heartbreak. “Satellite” investigates electro-dub and, at the album’s most ambitious, “Shouldn’t Have Done That” examines the evolution of dictators with unsettling harmonies and marching jackboots.