DEPECHE MODE - ‘MEMENTO MORI’

Writer’s Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Vulnerability is a topic Depeche Mode have never shied from, tied with the melancholy that has long characterised their music, and their newest musical offering ‘Memento Mori’ is no different. Over four decades since they entered the music scene, their fifteenth studio album is haunted by the ghosts of its creation, an idea conceived in a global pandemic, a time tainted by death and disease, to the tragic loss of founding member Andy ‘Fletch’ Fletcher last May; in its core, the album is an acceptance of loss, a simple and universal fact that death comes for us all and we all must die. Yet, with that, there is also a celebration of life, explored by the now duo in the twelve-track release.

Thematically, alongside the album title and artwork created by Anton Corbijn, the introductory track ‘My Cosmos is Mine’ continues to set the tone of the album as a whole. The industrial and stark bassline that begin the track, accompanied by the low lyrical delivery of Gahan, is a triumph. Its experimental nature, built with a combination of effects and tones is a testament to producers, James Ford and Marta Salongni, especially the layering of tape recordings of Gahan and Gore’s vocals by Salogni which amps up the atmospheric feel of the track.

Loss is never far behind in the lyrics on the album, seen especially in the second track of the album, ‘Wagging Tongue’, a rare co-write from Gore and Gahan— “everything seems hollow when you watch another angel die”. The sorrow of the “great divide” sung by Gahan is juxtaposed by the twinkling synth line that is reminiscent of the band’s early work. The collaboration of the two musicians on this track creates a song that stays in your head, from the foreboding weight of the lyrics to the lightness of the keyboard accompaniment.

This is a sentiment that is seen again in the first single that was released for the album ‘Ghosts Again’, a track that’s subtle pace provides backing for an introspective lyrical repose delivered by Gahan; ‘time is fleeting’ is not a beautiful metaphor but a fact. There’s a deliberateness to this, listeners “feel the joy in the melody, but there's a foreboding in the lyric and the way it's sung" as stated by Gahan, a track that any fan can appreciate.

The track that stood out most to me was ‘Caroline’s Monkey’, one of the four songs co-written by Gore and Psychedelic Furs’ Richard Butler. There’s a sparseness to the song provided by Gahan’s almost Nick Cave-esque delivery, seen especially in lines “folding’s better than losing/Fixing’s better than healing”, bookmarked by the addition of a sarcastic “sometimes”. It breaks from the delicate way darkness is explored in the rest of the offering, with double-edged lyrics that are visceral and bleak.

Looking at the album as a whole, the cinematic sound is inescapable, seen most in tracks such as ‘Speak to Me’ and ‘Soul With Me’. The latter a ballad sung by Gore comes with an unclouded acceptance of the afterlife, accompanied by lulling chords and calming aura. ‘Speak to Me’ however, has the grandeur any fan expects at the end of a Depeche Mode album as Gahan pleads for connection. Powered by the computer effects that conclude in a synthesised crescendo, it’s nothing short of beautiful.

The album marks a new dynamic for Depeche Mode driven by the absence of a friend and founding pillar, one where Gore and Gahan combine their creative talents moreso than ever before, fusing the fractures that appeared while recording their fourteenth album, ‘Spirit’. The result? A haunting exploration of loss and vulnerability but also salvation, its slow pace carries the astounding poetic weight of the music punctuated by characteristically Mode styling. It’s a lyrically beautiful journey, and a testament to what can come from death, that still strikes the nerve in its delivery.