Depeche Mode · Speak & Spell

New Life

New Life is in G major at 156 beats per minute.

4080120160200

Tempo

156 BPM · Vivacemedian of 207 analyses · 155.7–156.4 across the middle eight tenths
Key
G major1 sharp · the key most of the analyses agreed on
Agreement
90%share of analyses that agreed
Analyses
207people who ran the extractor
One beat
384.6milliseconds, 60,000 ÷ BPM
Tuning
442.3Hz · +9 cents from A 440
Dynamics
5.13dB the level wanders from its average
Loudness
0.762Essentia's 0–1 scale, not dB
Danceability
1.422Essentia's danceability, 0–3

Source: AcousticBrainz, dump of 2022-06-23 (CC0) · MusicBrainz core data, 2026-09-17 (CC0) · how each number is measured. Measured up to 23.06.2022 — AcousticBrainz stopped collecting in 2022, so nothing released after that date is here.

What the numbers say

207 independent analyses of this recording were submitted to AcousticBrainz. Most of them — 90% — put it in G major, a key signature of 1 sharp. The tempo printed above is the median of the 207 readings; 91% of them land within 2% of it, and they barely differ at all.

At 156 BPM one beat lasts 384.6 milliseconds, so a sixteenth note is 96.2 ms and a dotted eighth 288.5 ms — the delay times for this recording. Counted half as fast it is 78 BPM, counted twice as fast 312. A score would mark that Vivace, by the ranges this site uses.

The analyses put the reference pitch of the recording at 442.3 Hz, which is 9 cents above concert A at 440 Hz — the sort of drift a tape machine or a slightly different mastering leaves behind. That is a fact about this transfer of the music, not about how it was played.

The dynamic complexity of the recording measures 5.13 dB: that is how far the level wanders from its own average, so a small number means a loud, flat master and a large one means a recording that still breathes. Its average loudness is 0.762 on Essentia's 0-to-1 scale, which is not decibels and is not comparable to a streaming service's number.

10 other recordings here are in G major; the ones listed below are the closest in tempo.

Beats per bar are not in this dataset. AcousticBrainz's analysis reports a tempo, a key and a loudness, and no time signature at all, so this page does not print one — a 4/4 here would be a guess dressed as a measurement.

Keys that fit with G major

Each of these differs from G major by at most one accidental, or shares its tonic. That is the whole of what a mixing wheel encodes; here the relations are named instead of numbered.

Delay times at 156 BPM

Note valueBeatsMillisecondsHertz
Whole note41538.50.65
Half note2769.21.3
Dotted quarter1.5576.91.73
Quarter note (one beat)1384.62.6
Quarter triplet0.667256.43.9
Dotted eighth0.75288.53.47
Eighth note0.5192.35.2
Eighth triplet0.333128.27.8
Dotted sixteenth0.375144.26.93
Sixteenth note0.2596.210.4
Sixteenth triplet0.16764.115.6
Thirty-second note0.12548.120.8

Half time 78 BPM · double time 312 BPM. Every row is one beat (384.6 ms) times the fraction in the second column.

Closest in key and tempo

  1. Teen Age RiotSonic YouthG major156BPM
  2. Lonely PeopleAmericaG major156BPM
  3. Rocky RaccoonThe BeatlesG major156BPM
  4. Paperback WriterThe BeatlesG major156BPM
  5. Blaze of GloryJon Bon JoviG major156BPM
  6. EverlongFoo FightersG major156BPM
  7. Life Goes On2PacG major157BPM
  8. Take It on the RunREO SpeedwagonG major155BPM
  9. Running Gun BluesDavid BowieG major155BPM
  10. Wild ThingsAlessia CaraG major155BPM

Recordings in G major, ordered by how near their tempo is to 156 BPM. A calculation, not a recommendation.

All songs in G majorAll songs at 156 BPMG major at 150–159 BPMDepeche Mode

MusicBrainz collapses 24 recording ids into this one. Recording id 0b64a4de-8df7-4ed6-8b74-ad94e6e6daa5.