Signs of life With "Memento Mori" Depeche Mode recently announced their 15th studio album. It is the first work that Dave Gahan and Martin Gore have completed as a duo. Founding member Andy Fletcher had died unexpectedly of an aortic dissection in May 2022.

Work on the new songs began as early as 2019, so it's quite possible that recordings by Andy Fletcher could be included on the new album. In any case, his sudden death plays a supporting role in the concept of "Memento Mori", even if the album title had probably been decided for some time. Martin Gore says: "We started working on this project in the early phase of the pandemic, so its contents were directly inspired by that time. After Fletch passed away, we decided to go ahead because we were sure that's what he would have wanted us to do. That added another layer of importance to the project."

Already at the end of October 2022, Depeche Mode announced at a press conference in Berlin the release of a new album "approximately for the end of March 2023". On 24.3.2023 it is now officially so far and "Memento Mori" appears one day after the associated world tour starts in the USA.

The album contains twelve songs and was produced by James Ford, who was already responsible for the sound of the last Depeche Mode album "Spirit". Ford was supported by Marta Salogni, who has already recorded and produced artists such as Björn, Frank Ocean or The xx. The band's website says of the new album's musical direction, "The twelve album tracks bridge a variety of moods and musical textures - starting with the ominous opener and ending with the denouement at the end, the emotional spectrum spans from paranoia and obsession to psychic liberation and joy, as well as countless emotional overtones."

The first single, "Ghosts Again," gives a taste of "Memento Mori." "To me, 'Ghosts Again' captures the perfect balance between melancholy and joy," says Dave Gahan. "It's not too often that we record a song that I can not only listen to over and over again - I'm also super excited to share it with the world," adds Martin Gore.

Sounding less pop-oriented and more slightly bulky is "My Cosmos Is Mine," the second pre-released song and album opener. Proof of the wide range that "Memento Mori" has in store for Depeche Mode fans.

ALBUM DESCRIPTION If you’d told David Gahan and Martin Gore a year before the release of this latest album (which was still in the making at that time) that its title would be somewhat foreboding, the pair would likely have agreed, but for a rather different reason. Memento Mori roughly translates to ‘remember you’re going to die’—that’s what was on Gahan’s mind having just entered his sixties, whilst also remembering his stepfather, the man who raised and cared for him, who had died at just 61. But fate would prove both twisted and cruel when, without warning, it would take the life of Andy Fletcher on 26th May 2022. Depeche Mode’s third man was just 60 years old.

However, this sudden death was not what primarily guided the somber, melancholic content of the record. Most of it was composed during the pandemic, which must have forced the band to ask themselves countless questions about their existence, their future and how these doubts would be manifested within their music (though Fletcher’s death would inevitably alter their approach to these same compositions). This all gives rise to a record which, whilst rejecting any semblance of ‘joie-de-vivre’, is a real return to more gothic, vintage and organic sounds. The album’s quasi-industrial opener, ‘My Cosmos is Mine’, sets the tone for the darker journey to come. The album takes a more stripped-back approach to the melodies, where Gahan’s sobering voice steers clear of all excess.

In the midst of this darkness, the emphasis on synthesized sounds from a seemingly bygone era strikes a nostalgic chord without losing its edge (‘Wagging Tongue’, ‘Never Let Me Go’). These textures are accompanied by more saturated tones, taking us right back to their flirtations with rock in the 90s (‘My Favourite Stranger’). Memento Mori sounds like a kind of condensed version of the band’s more delicate songs without becoming a simple reconstruction of them. It has a subtle beauty which surely highlights the expertise of the musicians behind it, despite being somewhat overshadowed by the erratic nature of their discography over the last twenty years. Light filters through the cracks here and there on this album however, like the song ‘People are Good’, reminiscent of the classic ‘People are People’ released almost forty years ago. Remember that you’re meant to enjoy it… © Chief Brody/Qobuzскачать dle 11.1смотреть фильмы бесплатно