Depeche Mode’s singer Dave Gahan released his second solo album on Tuesday. It’s a dark, introspective affair that’s one of my favorite albums of the year. Where Gahan explored “rocktronica” (ewww!) on his first solo album, Paper Monsters, his follow-up, Hourglass, finds him embracing his electronic roots and all of its nasty blips and bleeps.

I met Gahan last month and chatted with him about the album. Having seen the tattooed, shirtless singer perform with Depeche Mode at Radio City Music Hall, in person he was dressed in a plain black T-shirt and jeans and looked more like an average Joe rather than the guy who made headlines a few years back for his drug problem and attempted suicide while living in L.A. Now a New Yorker with an actress wife and a daughter, Gahan told me living in Manhattan gives him the anonymity he needs in order to create from the perspective of the voyeur. His rejuvenated mental state allowed him to explore topics like getting old on Hourglass.

“I’m 45, and I’m already anticipating the death of the rock star,” said Gahan. “It’s like when Bowie made Ziggy Stardust; he made it as a film and he played a character. It’s one of my favorite albums and for me that’s always been the template of how an album should be made.

“Making music for me has become a new thing. I know it sounds weird, but exposing myself in a different way beyond the rock star guise is powerful because you can hide in a band. I did that very well for years and I got to the point in my life since the first solo album that it wasn’t enough. And that is sort of the M.O. in my life—that it’s never enough.”

Produced with Andrew Phillpott and Christian Eigner—two mainstays in Depeche Mode’s touring band—in Gahan’s tiny downtown studio, one of the standout tracks is “Saw Something,” which features dazzling guitar work from Red Hot Chilli Peppers’ John Frusciante. Gahan met Frusciante a while ago at a charity gig and the two became fast friends. It turns out that Frusciante is a huge Depeche Mode fan and can play every song on guitar. When Gahan needed a guitar solo, he sent the parts to Frusciante who “went all the way out there.”

Though Gahan has battled many demons, he seems to have landed on a solid creative place. After years of therapy Gahan has come to a conclusion about his mental state: “I’ve come to an understanding,” he declares. “I’m just like everybody else.”