Depeche Mode-Memento Mori
The band battles their own mortality on their 15th studio album
When you listen to Depeche Mode’s first album in six years, you can’t help feel this is a band aware of their mortality. The album emerges from the shadows following founding member Andy Fletcher’s death in 2022 and the band entering the third act of their career.
The lead single, ‘Ghosts Again’ is the sound of a band exploring the fragility of life, acknowledging that beauty and heartbreak come through existing as Dave Gahan sings, ‘Time is fleeting/See what it brings’. The song bursts into euphoric choruses with Gahan crooning, ‘We know we'll be ghosts again’. This sounds like a bittersweet ode that the band will one day be reunited with their former bandmate or an acknowledgement they’ll cease to exist once life is over.
The band take a deeper exploration into the afterlife with the dreamy and surreal sounding, ‘Soul with Me’. Martin Gore’s signature vocals are on full display as contemplates life after death, singing ‘Follow the light/Towards the voices calling/I'm going where the angels fly’. The song is a near-sonic masterpiece if it weren’t for the inclusion of the fuzzy synths that break up the verses.
Second single, ‘Wagging Tongue’ takes the album in a more defiant tone. Influenced by Kraftwerk, the pulsating synths allow Gahan to deliver calm but menacing vocals as he declares to an unnamed figure, ‘You won't do well to silence me’ and ‘You won't do well to darken me’. The song’s only weak point lies in its tempo which could have been increased to make it sound more captivating than it already is.
This defiance extends into the album highlight ‘Before We Drown’ with its weary-sounding synths on the verses balanced with life-affirming lyrics ‘We have to move forward/Before we drown’ sung by Gahan during the choruses. It’s a well-measured song with its sections never outstaying their welcome.
Depeche fans can hope there is a couple of more albums to come but if this was their last, it’s a great chapter to end on.
Liam Donohoe
Note: This review originally appeared on The Hive Bastillion website and was first published in May 2023.