‘Somebody’: The Depeche Mode song Martin Gore sang “completely naked” at Hansa Studios
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(Credits: Far Out / Press)
Thanks to the magic of mythologisation, most of the biggest, best, and most industry-defining moments at Hansa Studios will always be embellished by the well-told anecdote, glistening with reconstructed technicolour and advanced by evading the camera or documentation beyond the sounds of the music. While most rightly associate David Bowie with the coveted recording studio, many legends followed the Starman’s Berlin trilogy in earnest, including Depeche Mode.
For an artist, choosing Berlin for a musical venture is an intriguing path to take. Rather than opting for more obvious places like Los Angeles or London, Berlin offers a unique package deal with its own sociopolitical history. Unlike any other city in terms of culture, community, and artistic atmosphere, it also provides a rawness for creatives that goes beyond the limitations of music itself, creating a space for both self-discovery and artistic expression.
When Bowie relocated there in 1976, he needed it more than it needed him. While that’s a rather dubious observation in hindsight, especially considering the many ways impacted its culture in the many years that followed the Berlin trilogy, his main motive was to escape—escape from the bustling exhaustion of Los Angeles to clear his mind and refocus, all in a manner of complete anonymity and freedom from creative pressure.
Several years after Bowie’s departure, Depeche Mode embarked on a similar journey of refreshed purpose, recording parts of their third and fourth albums, Construction Time Again and Some Great Reward, at the studio. Beyond its obvious suitability for electronic music, this was also the ideal location during a time when Depeche Mode and countless other innovative bands began experimenting with the limitations of traditional approaches and the purpose of industrial sounds in modern music.
However, things in the studio weren’t always quite so revolutionary for Depeche Mode. Some songs, for instance, fell victim to potential overproduction and excessive mixing, which became counterproductive despite the increasing success of their previous albums. However, the basics prevailed, as evidenced by ‘Somebody’, when Martin Gore decided to strip things back for an intimate, acoustic moment, offering a more considered respite from the record’s broader style.
“‘Somebody’ just needed three takes, mainly to get the sound okay, and really uses the bare essentials,” Gore told Melody Maker in 1984. “In fact, I sang it completely naked in the cellar of the studio, which we use for ambience.” Elsewhere, Alan Wilder recalled the moment Gore felt a calling for something different, saying, “It was his call. […] I turned the piano away as I was playing, but yeah, we recorded it live, just him and me, in the big studio two hall, and he stripped off for that one.”
Even without knowledge of Gore’s studio nudity, the track itself feels as tender as bare vulnerability, with Gore singing in an almost delicate whisper against soft accompanying notes, like a fleeting conversation overheard in passing. There are countless stories in the walls of Hansa Studios, some more gimmicky than others, but this one seems more a strive for connection beyond the music itself, stark in its simplicity even though a little impulsive and strange for some listeners to contend with.
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