Songfacts®:

• This slice of hard-jackin' electro is a track from Ssss, the debut album by VCMG. The techno duo comprises Depeche Mode's Martin Gore and his former bandmate Vince Clarke - it was the first time the pair had collaborated since the latter left the group in 1981. Gore told Billboard magazine that their reunion was "a bolt out of the blue."
  
  "I got an e-mail from Vince - I wasn't aware he even had my e-mail address - just saying, 'I'm thinking about making a techno album. Are you interested in collaborating?'" he explained.
  
  "It was as simple as that, straight to the point. He said, 'No deadlines, no pressure.' So I just responded, 'Sounds like fun. Let's do it.'"
  
  Clarke told Billboard magazine that he had already several tracks into Ssss when he decided, "it might be interested to get Martin involved as a collaborator." The writing and recording of the album was done by the pair working alone in their respective studios, communicating only via email, exchanging files until the record was ready.
  
  Clarke and Gore only met for the first time to discuss the project when they each played at the Short Circuit presents Mute festival in London. And even that meeting, Gore says, was over the phone. "We didn't have a conversation until the album was virtually finished - and that was out of necessity because we needed to discuss things like what we were going to call ourselves, possible album titles and artwork," Gore recalled. "So we had a conference call... and that was the first time we heard each other's voices during the whole project. I think a lot of people work that way now, but it's not something I've ever done before for a whole project."
• The 10 track album is entirely instrumental. Clarke explained to The Sun why he felt it was important to not have any vocals on the record. "People have always said to me 'Why don't you make an instrumental album?'" he said. "And I always thought that would be dull. But when I discovered techno music, I realized you could make a record of instrumentals and it would be very exciting and emotional. And I think that is what we have achieved with this album."
• Gore told The Sun how the pair came up with the snake for the album imagery and title. He explained: "When we had our first conversation about what we were going to call ourselves and the title of the album, I had the idea of a 'hiss,' because Vince had sent me a lot of tracks with white noise on that he called 'hiss.' It conjured up a snake. The 'Ssss' sign and sound came from that. We were a bit worried about having a snake on the cover, that it could look a little too 'rock.' But then we made it like a drawing from The Little Prince. Something more innocent."