Sounds of the Universe debuted at number two on the UK Albums Chart with first-week sales of 30,537 copies -the band's highest-peaking album since chart-topping Ultra (1997). However, Rolling Stone critic Melissa Maerz felt that "the result sounds like a time machine back to the Eighties", adding that "Depeche Mode should be poised for a comeback, but it's too soon to unpack those black turtlenecks." Bill Stewart of PopMatters wrote that Depeche Mode "tempt us with a strong first half and then dump us in a collection of tossed off b-sides." Jon Caramanica wrote for The New York Times that while the album "lacks the fragility of 1984's Some Great Reward or the earned attitude of 1990's Violator, it's unmistakably an attempt at revisiting the past, admirable either as an act of defiant stubbornness or tenacious commitment", but also opined that "even at its most imaginative, this is seamless Depeche Mode filler, music that could be made by any number of acolytes." Entertainment Weekly 's Leah Greenblatt stated that on Sounds of the Universe, Depeche Mode "still sound genuinely inspired" and Ned Raggett of AllMusic concluded, " Sounds of the Universe is a grower, relying on a few listens to fully take effect, but when it does, it shows Depeche Mode are still able to combine pop-hook accessibility and their own take on 'roots' music for an electronic age with sonic experimentation and recombination." Neil McCormick of The Daily Telegraph noted that the album "shows up the imaginative constraints of most guitar-based rock." At Metacritic, which assigns a normalised rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, the album received an average score of 70, based on 28 reviews. Sounds of the Universe received generally positive reviews from music critics.
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Gahan explained that "Come Back" was going to sound more gospel but the band decided to make it into a wall of sound. Gahan described the track as having R&B influences while also being a rant. "Wrong" was chosen to be the first single off the album since the band felt it sounded very different. The opening track "In Chains" opens with synthesizers tuning up. Musically, the album has a heavy use of analog synthesizers giving it a more traditional electronic sound. Even though the track "Miles Away/The Truth Is" is not inherently about drugs, Gahan feels like that subject is always present in his songs due to his past substance abuse. Gore believed that "Peace" is one of the best songs he had ever written. The song "Wrong" was described by Gore to have a bit of black humor in its lyrics but doesn't want people to find it depressing. Gahan explained that the song "Hole To Heed" was written about the desire to fill a metaphorical hole but not knowing what to fill it up with. Lyrically, this album has a good amount of personal lyrics. This would be the first time that the band would openly post detailed clips of their recording process on social media. Short video clips of the band and production team at work in the studio were regularly posted on the band's homepage. Five of the songs not used on the album were released as part of the deluxe box set.
The band described the time in the studio as very productive, a total of 22 songs were created and it was difficult to choose the right songs for the album. Martin Gore shares lead vocal duties with Gahan on "In Chains", "Hole to Feed", "Peace", and "Little Soul". As with their previous album Playing the Angel, Dave Gahan once again wrote three songs with Christian Eigner and Andrew Phillpott: "Hole to Feed", "Come Back", and "Miles Away/The Truth Is". Ben Hillier took the production reins again, because the band were so satisfied with their previous collaboration on Playing the Angel (2005). In May 2008 the band hit the studio to record their twelfth studio album. While Dave Gahan was still busy with his solo album Hourglass (2007), Martin Gore was in his home studio in Santa Barbara, California, working on new songs.
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