Failure have released a newly recorded version of the Depeche Mode classic “Enjoy the Silence” more than 20 years after originally covering the song for a tribute album.
Back in 1998, Failure contributed a cover of the song to the Depeche Mode tribute compilation For the Masses. However, with the LP long out of print, the Los Angeles rockers decided to record an updated version of the track, which originally appeared on Depeche Mode’s landmark album Violator.
As Failure frontman Ken Andrews explained, “We originally recorded a cover of ‘Enjoy the Silence’ for the 1998 Depeche Mode tribute, For the Masses. That album has all but disappeared, no longer in print and not available via streaming platforms but we as a band are proud of our take on that song and had wanted to re-record it for some time.”
He added, “With the blessing of both Martin Gore and Depeche Mode, we re-addressed our version and came up with this new version for 2020.”
Failure’s 2020 version of “Enjoy the Silence” loses some of the haunting quality of the Depeche Mode original, but adds some alt-metal heaviness to the track.
If not for the pandemic, Failure would have been performing multi-night stints in Chicago, Los Angeles, and New York this month. Each city would have seen the band playing their three ’90s albums in their entirety over three shows.
Live Review: Failure and Swervedriver invoke heavy tones, romantic moods at Brooklyn’s Warsaw (3/29)
The three ’90s albums — Comfort, Magnified, and Fantastic Planet — are collected on Failure’s new 1992-1996 box set, which arrived digitally in April. As of now, there’s no release date for the vinyl version, which has been delayed due to the pandemic, but pre-orders are still being taken here.
Listen to Failure’s updated cover of “Enjoy the Silence” below, and download the track here.
