JUST CAN'T GET ENOUGH THEIR DEMONS BEHIND THEM, THE MEMBERS OF DEPECHE MODE CELEBRATE 20 YEARS TOGETHER.

Byline: Phillip Zonkel Staff Writer

Dave Gahan sits in sunlight that bathes the Los Angeles hotel suite where Depeche Mode is holding court. Though he and bandmate Martin Gore are dressed from head to toe in black (Andy Fletcher is chatting in the adjoining room, so his color scheme is unknown), don't let the color fool you. This is the dawn of a new day for Depeche Mode.

Gone are the group's highly chronicled days of rampant drug abuse, conflict and nonexistent communication. Instead, the band has emerged with a cleaner attitude, a new CD, the critically acclaimed ``Exciter,'' and an eagerly anticipated tour, which brings the trio to Los Angeles and Anaheim next week.

When the English electronica enthusiasts last hit the concert trail in 1998 for ``The Singles '86>'98 Tour,'' it was the first time since the group's 1993-94 ``Devotional'' tour that Gahan wasn't lost in the haze of drug abuse, which included habitual imbibings, ingestions and injections of alcohol, cocaine and heroin.

But getting the monkey off his back forced Gahan to rely on his own personal Jesus.

``It was kind of nerve-racking because it was the first tour I'd done without the aid of a couple of drinks beforehand, to say the least,'' says the 39-year-old vocalist.

``In retrospect, it helped me work through a lot of fears that I had - that I wouldn't be able to perform anymore if I wasn't in a certain state of mind or certain physical state or out-oody state. Of course, to my surprise, I feel like I'm now doing my best work, which is nice,'' says Gahan regarding ``Exciter'' and, more specifically, the ballads ``When the Body Speaks'' and ``Goodnight Lovers.''

``With the songs I sing on this album, I'm putting myself out there and revealing part of myself a little more. I feel like I was able to get in touch with places inside myself I hadn't been before and show that stuff, a softer side of myself, an unprotected side. That's OK.''

Listeners can walk in Gahan's shoes next week when Depeche Mode headlines a series of sold-out shows at Staples Center and the Arrowhead Pond of Anaheim, the final stops on the 37-city North American leg of the band's massive five-month, 24-country ``Exciter'' World Tour.

This year also marks another music milestone - the 20th anniversary of the band's first release. Founded in 1980 in Basildon, England, the group initially included Gahan, Gore, Fletcher and Vince Clarke. But after 1981's debut album, ``Speak and Spell,'' which spawned the pop hit ``Just Can't Get Enough,'' Clarke left to form Yaz and eventually the English electronic duo Erasure. In 1982, Alan Wilder joined the crew and essentially became the band's melody maker. His recruitment also was the group's musical turning point.

What started out as light electronic pop matured over the years into a sonic tapestry of sensual synthesizer-based grooves layered with guitar chords and rich keyboard and drum machine arrangements, coupled with soaring harmony vocals. This evolution was most apparent on two double- platinum CDs, 1990's ``Violator'' (``Halo'') and 1993's ``Songs of Faith and Devotion'' (``I Feel You'').

The breaking point

But as the group's music reached a harder, darker edge, the real-life drama behind the music was ready to explode. During the exhaustive 156- date, 14-month 1993-94 ``Devotional'' World Tour, the band reached a critical breaking point - Fletcher suffered a nervous breakdown and went home to London four months early; Gore, who was battling his own drug issues, had a brain seizure, and Gahan's heroin addiction sent him on a downward spiral.

``I was stuck in this role. Every cliche attached to the rock artist, that was me,'' Gahan says. ``I wanted to adopt this rock 'n' roll approach, and I wanted to do it honestly. I just went overboard. It's as if I plotted my own demise.

``I had started to believe my own press and thought what I was doing was so cool. I found out it wasn't,'' Gahan says. ``I lied, cheated, hid away to justify what I was doing. There was only one upside to the whole thing - I didn't die.''

There were, however, at least two near-fatal encounters in Los Angeles. In August 1995, two months after 13-year Depeche Mode veteran Wilder left the band, Gahan attempted suicide, and nine months later, as Gore and Fletcher worked in a New York studio on the ``Ultra'' CD, he overdosed on a speedball (a cocaine and heroin mix) that flatlined him for two minutes. Fortunately, shortly thereafter, Gahan entered a detox program.

``The hardest thing to do in my life was to finally admit that I needed help. The next hardest was to ask people for help,'' Gahan says. ``You have to reach out for help.''

Eventually, everyone started working together as a more cohesive unit. That cooperation made ``Exciter,'' Gore says, easier and more enjoyable to make.

``The inter-band relations are better. We're getting along much better now than we ever have,'' says the 40-year-old. ``That's half the battle. We feel more positive about the band.

``It's funny,'' Gore says. ``With every record since (1984's) 'Black Celebration,' I always thought maybe that's our last record. It wasn't a given fact that we would get together and make another record.''

Unlike those previous albums, which have sold in excess of 50 million copies worldwide, ``Exciter'' finds the band synthesizing a mellower, more minimalist approach.

``I don't think it's where anyone would expect us to go. This album is quite stripped back and atmospheric. I still feel the songs have a groove to them. It's much more about muted grooves, subtle grooves,'' says Gore, who says he was influenced in mid-1999 by an abundance of minimal-abstract electronica music.

``To me, it's quite different-sounding, but I always think our records sound different. Yet we always have to fight the fact that my songs have an inherent mood to them and Dave's voice is so distinctive. Whatever we do, we always end up sounding like us,'' he says with a chuckle. ``We're unique, but unique in a way that's impossible to get away from.''

Speaking truthfully

The mood Gore refers to is a dark, introspective one, courtesy of his heart-on-the-sleeve lyrics, a 20-year Depeche Mode trademark.

``I find it very difficult writing what are conventionally called happy songs. I feel that they're not based on reality at all, which sounds very depressing,'' he says. ``I don't mean for it to sound that depressing. I find it far easier writing songs that are considered off the beaten track.''

Compared to other bands' songs, perhaps they are. Gore mainly explores the context of relationships through the lens of religion, domination, commitment, obsession and love.

``I think they're topics that are capable of moving anybody,'' says the lyricist. ``I don't think there's ever a general message that I'm trying to get across. It's different for each context. I often touch on some similar aspects. Religion comes up a lot. Faith and sex to some degree. Generally, there's always love in there somewhere. That's not really a general message, just points of reference that keep cropping up.

``Maybe it's because I tend to talk about the general picture that I manage to actually get through to people. I like leaving points up to the listener,'' Gore says about his open-ended lyrics. ``If things are put down too blatantly, then it somehow takes away some of the mystery of songs. It should be a two-way thing between me and the listener or the band and the listener.

``I've always really loved the idea of communication, and I suppose that's what got me interested in songwriting in the first place. If I can move people by talking about topics that are of general interest, then I'm actually achieving my purpose.''

For years, critics have scoffed at the band, labeling it Depressed Mode, Depeche Mope and Kings of Gloom and Doom. Gore, however, brushes off the remarks.

``For me, this record is more uplifting and more optimistic. But I've said that every time. I keep wondering, 'How depressing was I 10 years ago?' '' he says, chuckling.

``I've always found our music uplifting. I never thought that it's morbid and morose,'' Gore says. ``When people accuse us of being overdark, they're missing the point that there is always some optimism in the songs.''

DEPECHE MODE

Where: Staples Center, 1111 S. Figueroa St., Los Angeles; and Arrowhead Pond of Anaheim, 2695 E. Katella Ave., Anaheim.

When: 8 p.m. Tuesday and Wednesday (Los Angeles); Aug. 18 and 19 (Anaheim).

Tickets: $42 to $57. Sold out, except Aug. 19

Information: [phone] or www.staplescenter.com and [phone] or www.arrowheadpond.com

CAPTION(S):

2 photos

Photo:

(1) Depeche Mode - from left, Andy Fletcher, Dave Gahan and Martin Gore - wrap up their tour's North American leg in the Southland next week. Critics have been in a hurry to praise the group's latest album, ``Exciter.''

(2) ``I feel like I'm now doing my best work, which is nice,'' says Depeche Mode lead singer Dave Gahan, center, with bandmates Martin Gore, left, and Andy Fletcher.