Dave Gahan made quick work of his second solo disc, Hourglass, taking a mere eight weeks to put together the album. (Supplied photo)

After taking more than two decades to get around to his debut solo album, Paper Monsters, in 2003, Depeche Mode lead singer Dave Gahan spent a mere eight weeks putting together his sophomore effort, Hourglass. It's an album Gahan entered into with fewer doubts than before.

"I think I definitely got some more confidence in doing the stuff with Depeche," Gahan says. "It was kind of like I passed my exam or something."

Gahan wrote Hourglass, in stores Tuesday, with Depeche Mode's touring drummer Christian Eigner and programmer Andrew Phillpott at Gahan's small New York City studio. The idea wasn't so much to write songs for an album as to just jam and see what transpired.

"There was no real plan," Gahan says. "I think that's what the beauty of doing this record was that there was no agenda. We got into it and after a very short period of time, maybe a couple of weeks, we realized that it was becoming of body of work that seemed to have a thread to it.

"There was very little of that, 'Okay, we've got to find a studio, we've got to find a producer.' We cut out the middle man."

What wasn't cut out, though, was the murky but effective electronic-tinged pop Gahan's vocals often soar over on songs such as Endless and the strong first single, Kingdom.

"That was one of the tracks that came pretty much out of a jam," Gahan says of Kingdom. "There was some really interesting atmosphere and some of the stuff that really sparked the inspiration for that song was in what they had done in these jams. Lyrically, in my head, I was trying to create a place on this earth that felt like some kind of safety place, a place here most of the time that I chose to ignore going about my daily life trying to control everything."

There's also plenty of blues flavouring on tracks such as Use You and 21 Days, something Gahan says deeply resonates with him.

"That comes from my love of that particular kind of music -- blues and gospel," he says. "The blues usually comes from an idea or riff and then it's improvisation on that riff and it builds constantly. Using electronics you can kind of twist it around and do something interesting."

Perhaps the biggest difference with the 45-year-old Gahan now as opposed to five years ago is his proficiency. He says the change took place during the making of Depeche Mode's 2001 album, Exciter.

"I was feeling this nagging feeling inside of me that there was more I should be doing and more I should be exploring. But I felt in the sort of setup that Depeche was, I was unable to do that," he says. "I had this uncomfortable feeling during the making of that album that I wanted to be getting on with something else. I'm finding plenty of time to do everything I want to do. It's just getting motivated to do it."

After completing a Depeche Mode world tour in 2006, Gahan says he's not that eager to get out on the road. Plans are afoot for some live performances for various Internet sites such as Myspace and iTunes, but a possible solo tour wouldn't be until early 2008.

"I feel like I've just finished a tour, to be honest," Gahan says. "I'm a bit reluctant at the moment to set off once again to be leaving my family. That's really good in my life and definitely the most important thing that is happening at the moment. It inspires me to do what I'm doing now."

On the Depeche Mode front, Gahan says guitarist Martin Gore is writing some songs but nothing will be discussed or started regarding a possible album until 2008.

Restaurant ruse deliciously funny to singer

If you surf enough artist websites, you're bound to find a few on April Fool's Day that are totally revamped with shocking news and events. The Bruce Springsteen fan site Backstreets.com is a good one but Depeche Mode's official site also provides its own brand of trickery.

Earlier this year, DepecheMode.com stated that lead singer Dave Gahan was opening a new restaurant in New York called The Bitter Apple, named after a song from his debut album Paper Monsters.

But perhaps the menu got the greatest attention, with entrees such as Steak That I'm Used To, To Ham and to Hold and Quiche of Lust to go with drinks such as The Barrel of a Gun and The Personal Jesus. Of course, the names are based on Depeche Mode song titles, but Gahan apparently had no idea what was going on.

"I first heard about it when there were a number of friends in New York coming up to me and saying, 'Oh I heard you opened a restaurant here in New York,' " Gahan says with a laugh. "I didn't put it together for awhile but, actually, Daniel Barassi, who is our webmaster, comes up with these things every year and doesn't let the band know about it. That was all his doing.

"It was pretty funny, actually, I don't know if you've seen the menu but there is no restaurant. I've absolutely got no plans to open up any kind of restaurant. That sounds way too much like hard work."