Martin Gore and Cliff Damavandi release ‘Cross Whisper’ as MG x CD + JL =, with vocals by Gore’s daughter
Depeche Mode‘s Martin Gore has released a new electronic single, “Cross Whisper“, in collaboration with artist and lyricist Cliff Damavandi and with vocals from Gore’s daughter. Credited to the newly formed MG x CD + JL =, the track came out digitally on 20 October 2026 via Mute, with a limited transparent green 12″ vinyl edition following on 4 December.
The song grew out of a conversation about unexplainable phenomena, in which Gore described birds appearing at moments when people and animals close to him died, including an incident in which a bird tapped repeatedly at his studio window two days before he learned a close friend had died. Gore recounted the pattern: “I was out with some friends and we started talking about death so I shared that whenever someone close to me has died, birds start appearing, sometimes arriving every day for a year outside my window. When my mother died, a bird came, and again when my dog passed. When my cat died, a bird came into the house and flew downstairs into the room where it slept!”
Damavandi, who wrote the lyrics that Gore then set to music, described how the story prompted him to write: “When Martin was sharing his story, he was so alive, and I could feel the story as well as hear it. There was an otherness that compelled me to write the words.”
“Cross Whisper” opens with whispered vocals before Gore’s synthesizers enter, with a recurring percussive motif that echoes the bird’s tapping at his studio window.
Gore produced “Cross Whisper” and wrote it with Damavandi. The two share lead vocals and synthesizers, with Arielle Sitrick and Johnny Lee on background vocals. Marta Salogni, who also mixed and engineered Depeche Mode’s “Memento Mori”, handled the mix.
The 12″ single, released via Mute in a limited transparent green edition with an embossed sleeve, pairs the original 5:46 track with five additional remixes. Vinyl orders for the UK and EU go through Mute Bank; Gore’s Bandcamp page ships the 12″ from the US and offers a digital pre-order that delivers the original track immediately.
Mute also released an official visualiser for “Cross Whisper”, filmed in Japan and England by Luca Bailey.
‘Cross Whisper’ remixes on vinyl and digital
Remixes come from ANNA, a Brazilian techno DJ and producer; Regis, a techno artist, DJ and label head; Vera Grace, a Dutch techno artist; Pye Corner Audio, the British hauntologist also known as Martin Jenkins; and boothnavy.
Side A: “Cross Whisper”, “Cross Whisper (Regis’ Learn to See Mix)”, “Cross Whisper (Vera Grace Remix)”
Side B: “Cross Whisper (ANNA Remix)”, “Cross Whisper (Pye Corner Audio Remix)”, “Cross Whisper (boothnavy’s Murmuration Remix)”
The digital release on January 15, 2027 adds a seventh track, “Cross Whisper (Regis’ Cellular Drift Remix)”, which is not part of the vinyl tracklist.
About Martin Gore and Cliff Damavandi
Martin Gore was born in London on July 23, 1961. In 1980 he joined Andrew Fletcher and Vince Clarke in the Basildon, Essex group Composition of Sound, which became Depeche Mode after Dave Gahan joined as lead singer. The band released its debut album “Speak and Spell” on October 5, 1981. After Clarke left later that year, Gore became Depeche Mode’s principal songwriter, alongside keyboards, guitar, backing vocals and occasional lead vocals.
Gore’s work outside the band has also appeared on Mute. “Counterfeit“, an EP of cover versions, came out on June 12, 1989. “Counterfeit²”, with eleven covers of songs that shaped his own writing, followed on April 28, 2003. He reunited with Clarke as VCMG for the instrumental electronic album “Ssss”, released on March 12, 2012. His solo album “MG“, sixteen electronic instrumentals recorded at his Electric Ladyboy studio in Santa Barbara, California, came out on April 27, 2015. The five-track instrumental EP “The Third Chimpanzee”, introduced with the track “Mandrill“, followed on January 29, 2021, and “The Third Chimpanzee Remixed” on August 20, 2021.
Depeche Mode’s Andrew Fletcher died on May 26, 2022, after which the band continued as the duo of Gahan and Gore and released their fifteenth studio album, “Memento Mori“, on March 24, 2023. The concert film “Depeche Mode: M”, shot over three nights in Mexico City during the 2023 tour, premiered at the Tribeca Festival in June 2025 and reached Netflix on January 9, 2026. On March 6, 2026, the band issued “Universal Soldier” on War Child’s charity album “HELP(2)”.
Cliff Damavandi is an artist and lyricist. “Cross Whisper” is his first released work with Gore, and no earlier music releases under his name are listed in public discographies.
In Gore’s solo catalog, “Cross Whisper” is the first new release since “The Third Chimpanzee Remixed” in August 2021, and the first under the MG x CD + JL = name.
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