Eric Tessmer has teamed up with Heart’s Nancy Wilson to record the Depeche Mode classic – Policy Of Truth.  Let me be clear.  I’m an enormous DM fan and would normally cringe at the thought of someone trying to re-imagine one of their songs.  Especially one of this magnitude.  But these two have come up with an amazing version of the song.  After my initial hesitation, I found myself unable resist the incredible guitar play and vocal of Tessmer and the smooth, haunting tone of Wilson’s voice.  They’ve put a cool twist on the song without losing the identity that made it such a huge success in the past.  The other bonus?  The slide guitar that mimics the synth in the original Policy Of Truth. Creative choice here.  Oh and check out that guitar solo.  Dude is on fire with this one.

The collaboration has been in the works for a couple of years when the two met each other at a private benefit event in 2017.  “It was a mind blowing, jaw dropping thing to watch Eric for the first time,” Wilson recalls. “Eric was tapping into a pure rock-and-roll thing I can really appreciate.” The pair immediately bonded, and after an impromptu all-night living room jam, Wilson and Tessmer vowed to stay in touch and explore doing a project together.

The opportunity finally came in March 2019, when Wilson traveled to Austin to join Eric at The Clubhouse, a residential studio near South Congress. There in a one-room space they worked with producer/keyboardist David Rice, bassist Chris Maresh, and A&F DrumCo founder/drummer Ramy Antoun.  The single was mixed by Tim Palmer (Pearl Jam, David Bowie).  What they did was capture that rare magic that sometimes happens.  Call it environment or the gathering of talented musicians.. Whatever the case – it worked and worked well.  In fact, there are more songs that the group put down during that session.  I’m excited to hear more.  Stay tuned on this one.

-Tommy Marz

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