Hey, hey it’s the monkeys

The synth master has released a new five-track EP, The Third Chimpanzee, and many fans may be disappointed to learn his angelic vibrato is absent from the instrumentals.

He said: “It’s very hard to get inspired when you don’t have any input coming in.

“I suppose the reason is we are all not doing anything, |every day blurs into the next, it’s not inspiring. I barely leave the house.” Fortunately, primates sparked a lightbulb moment.

Martin added: “I re-synthesised my voice and it came back sounding not quite human. It reminded me more of a primate. So I called it Howler.

“Then when we went into lockdown I had all this time on my hands. I didn’t feel creative lyrically. I had this idea to carry on this monkey theme and do this manipulation of vocals.”

The techno anthems are all named after monkeys and he pinched the title from a Jared Diamond book. But

Gore took the monkey theme a stage further by getting them to design his EP’s sleeve.

He laughed: “I thought, ‘Hold on, there are monkeys that actually paint. I wonder if I can find one to do the artwork?’

I found a sanctuary up in Canada and they have a capuchin monkey called Pockets Warhol. I reached out and they got Pockets to do the artwork.”

Last year, Depeche Mode were inducted into America’s Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame, perhaps ironic given their synth-pop roots. Martin said: “The old rock ’n rollers would laugh. For us in England it didn’t mean as much, but I was brought up on it so it was an honour.”