Native to Central and South America, the howler monkey gets its name from the menacing wail it makes. It’s among the largest nonhuman primates in the Americas, part of a cluster that migrated, it is speculated, either by raft or natural bridge from Africa some nearly 50 million years ago.
Martin Gore, co-founder and primary songwriter for Depeche Mode, zoomed in on the monkey while working on the first track on his new EP, “The Third Chimpanzee.” In his home studio, he developed what he calls “a resynthesized vocal that sounds not quite human — but like a monkey or another member of the primate family.”
Released Friday, the five-song instrumental EP is Gore’s first solo material in six years, and finds him neck-deep in menacing analog synth tones and rigidly funky rhythms. A longtime Santa Barbara, California, resident, Gore said during a recent conversation that he didn’t set out to create a conceptually linked work involving howlers, mandrills, capuchins and vervets.
Rather, after he, David Gahan, Andy Fletcher and the rest of Depeche Mode concluded touring in 2018 in support of 14th studio album “Spirit,” Gore returned to Santa Barbara, where he lives with his wife, to recharge and help raise their two toddlers. But with a home studio and 40 years’ worth of gear — he uses the term “gear addiction” when asked about his accumulation — it was inevitable that he’d start creating new music. It’s been a pattern for both him and Gahan: Each usually creates solo and collaborative work between Depeche Mode albums.