Depeche Mode’s Martin Gore has announced a new solo EP titled The Third Chimpanzee, which is set to be released on January 29, 2021. Along with the announcement, Gore has shared the EP’s first single, “Mandrill.”

The new single incorporates experimental synths and hard-hitting drums. The instrumentals create an unsettling feeling as the roaring synths begin to fall darker. The entirety of the track falls within Gore’s heavy electronic sound, delivering deep influences and energetic clashes. The accompanying visualizer features an artistic mandrill made from an animated canvas. Splashes of paint dance across the white canvas, the mandrill staring seriously through the screen.

“The first track I recorded had a sound that wasn’t human,” Gore said in a press statement. “It sounded primate-like. I decided to name it ‘Howler,’ after the monkey. Then, when it came time to name the EP, I remembered reading the book ‘The Rise and Fall of the Third Chimpanzee.’ It all made sense to call it that, as the EP was made by one of the third chimpanzees.”

The Third Chimpanzee will be available in a limited edition 12″ vinyl in Azure Blue along with an accompanying art print created by Pockets Warhol. Physical copies of the album are available for pre-order here.

Gore, along with the rest of Depeche Mode, had been inaugurated into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame last week. “”Mandrill” follows Depeche Mode’s 2017 album, Spirit, and comes as Gore’s first solo release since his instrumental album MG had been released in 2015. In 2018, Depeche Mode had released a box set of their albums Speak & Spell and A Broken Frame.

The Third Chimpanzee EP track list:

1. Howler
2. Mandrill
3. Capuchin
4. Vervet
5. Howler’s End

Photo credit: Owen Ela