I Feel You

Depeche Mode had taken time off after their successful album Violator and supporting World Violation Tour in 1990.^[5] In 1992, the band reconvened near Madrid, Spain, to record material for their new album.^[6]

Songwriter Martin Gore brought a demo of "I Feel You" to the Madrid sessions, which delighted singer Dave Gahan, who was looking to do something "bluesier" and "rockier" than they had done before.^[7]

Band member Alan Wilder played live drums for the track, which were then sampled and replayed for the song. Said Wilder of the drums,

I went in and played drums along with the track in one particular style, then did it again in a funkier style, and so on. ... We set up a studio in the basement. The two drum kits – the smaller and the larger one – were recorded in different spaces, which gave each a different kind of edge. Plus, they were played in very different ways. Most of them were sampled and then sequenced in the form of drum loops. ... There's a series of loops, which are sequenced together ... in a different structure from how they were originally performed. At the beginning of 'I Feel You' the drum kit is played, sampled, put through a synth, distorted, and then reduced to half-level."^[8]

Lyrically, Wilder felt that the song uplifting, saying "I don't agree at all that Songs of Faith and Devotion is a dark album – it's the only Depeche Mode album that leaves you feeling uplifted. 'I Feel You', for example ... [has] an overriding sense of optimism."^[9]

The band all agreed to release the song as the lead-off single for the album, with Wilder saying "the track had attitude and was radically different to what we had done before. We hoped it would surprise people and make them curious about the rest of the album."^[8]

The single was released first in the US on 9 February 1993, and then six days later in the UK, representing the first time a Depeche Mode single was released in the US before the UK.^[10] Mute Records released the single in the UK on several formats: a 7" vinyl single with catalogue number 7BONG21, a 12" vinyl single (12BONG21), a limited edition 12" single (L12BONG21), and as a promotional 12" single, P12BONG21.^[11] Remixes for the song were created by Brian Eno, Renegade Soundwave, Mark Stent, and John Crossley.

On the album, the track was sequenced as the first song, before "Walking in My Shoes", a position Wilder had to fight with the band to get them agree to.^[12]

The single also included the album track "One Caress".^[10]

Within two weeks of its release, the single went to number eight on the UK singles chart.^[13]

The black-and-white music video for "I Feel You" was directed by Dutch photographer, film director and music video director Anton Corbijn and was the first time fans of Depeche Mode were shown Gahan's new look, with long hair, tattoos and a goatee.^[10] The woman in the video is English actress Lysette Anthony.^[10] In September 1993, "I Feel You" was nominated in the MTV Video Music Awards,^[14] and in the UK it was nominated for the 1993 Brit Awards, although it failed to win either.^[15]

There is also a music video for "One Caress", directed by Kevin Kerslake, that was filmed during one of the off-days of the Devotional Tour in the US.

The videos for "I Feel You" and "One Caress" appeared on subsequent Depeche Mode video compilations, including The Videos 86–98 (1998 for "I Feel You", 2002 re-release for "One Caress") and Video Singles Collection (2016).

"I Feel You" has been played on nearly every Depeche Mode tour since 1993, including the 1993–94 Devotional Tour, the 2001 Exciter Tour, the 2005–06 Touring the Angel tour, the 2009–10 Tour of the Universe, the 2013–14 Delta Machine Tour, the 2018–19 Global Spirit Tour and the 2023–24 Memento Mori World Tour. Performances from these tours were released on Devotional (1993), One Night in Paris (2002), Touring the Angel: Live in Milan (2006), Tour of the Universe: Barcelona 20/21.11.09 (2010), Live in Berlin (2014), and Depeche Mode: M (2025), with only the 1998 Singles Tour and the Global Spirit Tour not seeing an official live release of the song.

The song appeared in its album or remixed form on various Depeche Mode compilation albums, including The Singles 86–98 (1998), Remixes 81–04 (2004), The Best of Depeche Mode Volume 1 (2006), and Remixes 2: 81–11 (2011).

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[16]

In his weekly UK chart commentary, James Masterton wrote, "In a similar vein to 'Personal Jesus' the track may not have quite the momentum to go Top 3 and is unlikely to win them any new fans."^[17] David Quantick from NME viewed it as "a song which takes INXS's arena bluster and turns it into a dark and mean glitter stomp."^[18] Sam Wood from Philadelphia Inquirer described it as "a screeching blast of hellish white noise. A claustrophobic electro-blues shackled to a two-note guitar figure, 'I Feel You' trumpets the onrush of a terrifying mystical experience."^[19] Andrew Harrison from Select noted the "easy brutality" and "raging noise" that opens the track.^[20]

In 2017, Billboard magazine included "I Feel You" on their list of Top 20 Depeche Mode songs, placing the song at number eleven.^[21]

The "Life's Too Short" mix and the "Swamp" mix are by Brian Eno; the "Throb" mix and the "Helmet at the Helm" mix are by Mike Stent; the "Babylon" mix is by John Crossley and Supereal; and the "Afghan Surgery" mix is by Danny Briottet and Renegade Soundwave.