I will go with “Shake the disease” from 1985. The lyrics of the songs are suitably ambiguous that they can fit a range of relationship situations, the voice appears to offer two views points of a single relationship, making it easy to relate to.

Musically, I find it very difficult to place the song in any specific style or genre, and it doesn’t sit comfortably in any playlist… Depeche Mode themselves didn’t include it on any album, releasing as a stand alone single.

The production is really interesting, it’s clear Depeche were really comfortable with their NED Synclavier, having used it and the Emu Emulators for the previous two albums. The layering of musical parts and sonic textures are exquisite, and set the tone for their next album, “Black Celebration”.

The official studio recording is a bit of a mess from an audio engineering point of view, which is probably a bit off putting for many people. But as a teenager keen to understand music production and engineering, was a wonderful insight into exactly how a song is constructed.

All these points keep me coming back to it.