SOM band

SOM (Caspian, Junius) prep EP of Depeche Mode covers: hear "Enjoy the Silence"

SOM, the post-metal band featuring members of Caspian, Junius, and Constants, will release the Faith EP on May 26. It features covers of four Depeche Mode songs, and was born out of the pandemic after their tour had been postponed. “I was frustrated,” says the band’s Will Benoit. “We didn’t want to write more, we wanted to go out and play the songs we had just worked on for two years. In hindsight, I was just looking for inspiration in something familiar.”

Between a new Depeche Mode album coming out and their song “Never Let Me Down Again” being used in The Last of Us, the timing has proved to be fortuitous. “When I’ve told people we’ve been working on an EP of Depeche Mode covers, I honestly didn’t expect such a positive reaction,” says Benoit. “‘Oh wow, I love that band’ or ‘that’s one of my favorite songs’ have been the most common responses. I didn’t realize how much of an influence they’ve had across like three or four generations of music listeners, so it’s exciting to feel like the tone and even the content of these songs still resonates so strongly with people.”

We’ve got the premiere of SOM’s version of “Enjoy the Silence,” Depeche Mode’s 1990 single that went Top 10 in the US. “‘Enjoy The Silence’ is one of my all time favorite songs and it embodies everything that makes Depeche Mode great,” says Benoit. “As soon as the drums kick in you get this iconic, earworm guitar line, then the song drops down into a sort of weird, off kilter verse melody which explodes into a stadium-sized, emotional chorus. It was daunting to take this song on in particular because it really does have a life of its own outside of Depeche Mode. So we worked pretty hard to find a delicate balance of homage, but we also really wanted to ‘own it’ and infuse as much weight and density as possible. Working on the arrangement felt like a lesson in how to write a great song, and it was a special feeling to get to really live inside of this piece of music for a while.”

Listen and check out the EP’s artwork and tracklist below.

SOM released The Shape of Everything in 2022 and will be touring later in 2023, dates TBA.

som faith EP

Faith:
Enjoy the Silence
Personal Jesus
Policy of Truth
Never Let Me Down Again