Depeche Mode - Memento Mori

It's coming along soonish, and a first snippet has formally emerged:

time is fleeting, see what it bringshttps://t.co/hZndB6eNkT pic.twitter.com/hog2j5rUET

— Depeche Mode (@depechemode) January 27, 2023

First single "Ghosts Again" drops tomorrow.

https://depechemode.lnk.to/GhostsAgain/youtube

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iIyrLRixMs8

It’s okay

Addressing things without addressing them directly. I do like it -- the last time a truly knock-my-socks-off lead single happened for them was "Wrong" in 2009 and that's fine.

Between the black hoods and the otherwise empty city the first section of the video is more Beneath the Planet of the Apes than The Seventh Seal... and the song sounds more latter-day Pet Shop Boys to my ear than anything else. It's not bad, though.

This if fine I guess, looking forward to the album. First thing that came to mind with the opening notes was Bizarre Love Triangle.

"It's OK" and "It's Not Bad" and "This is Fine" would have been good names for this song.

Ironic that one of the most band-oriented synth groups amidst a bunch of duo peers should in the end become a duo themselves.

Tracklist:

My Cosmos Is Mine
Wagging Tongue
Ghosts Again
Don’t Say You Love Me
My Favourite Stranger
Soul With Me
Caroline's Monkey
Before We Drown
People Are Good
Always You
Never Let Me Go
Speak To Me

Huh, hadn't realized until now that "Ghosts Again" is a cowrite with Richard Butler as in the Psychedelic Furs. Intriguing!

Kind of a “that was the teaser single, the second single is what will kick your ass” thing.

i really liked this song this morning. hopefully I'll still like it when I listen to it again later.

"It's OK" and "It's Not Bad" and "This is Fine" would have been good names for this song.

I love Depeche Mode, but this tune just feels like wallpaper.

This is good, I was fully expecting another Personal Jesus shuffle retread

well it's a fair bit better than their last few lead singles at least

Liking this. Good, not great, but pleasantly surprised this didn’t turn out to be another bluesy mid tempo dirge.

I also got a "Bizarre Love Triangle" vibe, mostly from the opening and a little from the arpeggiated synth bridge. Feels pretty simple on first listen but "Precious" did as well and that grew on me

^ yes, I kept expecting the guitar line to resolve as BLT does

To my thorough surprise, they just showed up at this year’s Sanremo festival to play “Ghosts Again” and “Personal Jesus.” It was as the now touring quartet of Dave, Martin, Peter and Christian, and it was really really weird not seeing Fletch there, but they set it up and staged it as a quartet and it all worked.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ZegsE7W05s

Better link

https://www.raiplay.it/video/2023/02/Sanremo-2023-serata-finale-Depeche-Mode-in-anteprima-mondiale-con-il-nuovo-singolo-b42d554a-34a3-4fe0-9974-7b4989295033.html

Heard the new one on the radio this morning and, inevitably melancholy vibe aside, was struck by its relative upbeat-ness. Most DM singles lean into the minor key menace, but this one, not so much.

New fall/early winter tour dates for the US announced:

https://www.depechemode.com/gr_news/dm_tour_na_leg2060238.jpg

Per their site:

Pre-sales will kick off with a Fan Pre-sale on Tuesday, February 21, with the general public on sale beginning Friday, February 24 at 10am local time.

also, next issue mojo coverstars, with a free DM cd of rare tracks/remixes etc.
will be interesting to see the tracklisting for that.

Bit of a sweet surprise here -- Glenn Donaldson's bedroom/lofi project the Reds, Pinks and Purples just surprise released a new EP with a cover of "Ghosts Again" on it, and it's really lovely, a transforming of it into a very 80s postpunk low key anthem. Almost like a demi-salute to the fact that Richard Butler cowrote the original.

https://theredspinksandpurples.bandcamp.com/track/ghosts-again

New song!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S698DWXhu5I

Opening track on the album, very much a "Welcome to My World" equivalent.

Nice NYT feature

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/19/arts/music/depeche-mode-memento-mori.html

oh wow they announced they're touring here early next year - the first time in 30 years.

This album is so fab

xpost Where is here?

Officially live on streaming.

Good album! "Caroline's Monkey" gives off Marc Almond vibes.

Seems to be getting very positive reviews so looking forward to listening in a bit

Only halfway through but, like some critics have noted, this album gives off surprising pre-Black Celebration vibes here and there.
Less fussy, occassional major keys and mostly free of the bluesy dirges that have plaged their late career

I do have to wonder how much of that was already in place pre-Fletch's passing but there is an energy here -- easily driven as much by the larger COVID impact that Martin had said was the basis of his songs -- about maybe trying to embrace life directly a bit more in response. (And I do wonder how much of that might also come from Richard Butler's contributions.)

The album is fantastic, and "Ghosts Again" has grown on me quite a bit since the last time I popped into this thread.

"Wagging Tongue" is really something, I feel. Notable it's the Gore/Gahan cowrite on here.

"Caroline's Monkey" gives off Marc Almond vibes.

Interesting inasmuch as I was thinking of Marc's "Caroline Says" cover, I suppose kinda by default. A friend suggested Coil's "Sex With Sun Ra."

Ghosts Again is really growing on me.

xpost Those are spot on as well!

i haven't listened to a new depeche mode decades but i'm really digging this so far!

WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN (I kid)

tbh listening to neil young, weird acoustic guitar dudes, and rappers no one likes

are there other ones since uh...probably the one after violator...that i should listen to?

where is this stacking up for you Ned?

Very high. Post Songs of Faith and Devotion in brief from me:

Ultra: Oh do I ever have thoughts.
Exciter: produced by Mark Bell of LFO (the techno duo, etc., not the boy band), a restrained minimal electronic album in many ways, I like it a lot, not a fave of the fanbase
Playing the Angel: absolutely great, Dave starts songwriting contributions, "Precious" is an honestly mature masterpiece, Ben Hillier's production figures out the best way to incorporate rock-as-such for them for the 2000s
Sounds of the Universe: with distance, uneven, but with a lot of highs, some great vocals from Dave in particular
Delta Machine: their generic late period Rolling Stones album equivalent, a few good songs but mostly they've stopped challenging themselves, Hillier has no more to provide
Spirit: more spark and anger in a Depeche album in a while, James Ford a good new producer to work with, though musically not much different

Where this one clicks, I think, is that it's the most notably electronics-forward album of theirs since Exciter -- not that it wasn't there all this time obv., but there's a new prominence, like how all the keyboards Martin's been collecting for his solo work get a real showcase throughout, and there's a feeling of 'well we don't HAVE to always be doing moodier electroblues numbers, do we?' A boost in energy, almost like what happened both to the world and to them meant a new embrace of activity and energy. 21st century Mode highlights would be this and Playing the Angel if I had to pick two.

awesome thank you! I don't obviously have a frame of reference but I do agree that the synths sound great on this, and for me I would rather have them focus on synth pop textures than rock textures.

Seconding you check out Ultra, ums, probably my second favorite album in their catalog

I would rank them Playing the Angel > Ultra >> Delta Machine > Exciter > SOTU. I still haven’t heard Spirit in full. The first two are as good as anything in their catalogue.

For me it's Ultra > Exciter > Delta Machine > Playing the Angel > Universe > Spirit. MM will probably end up coming between the first two.

I have weirdly fond memories of the Exciter tour, which was so chill compared to the last couple, where the drummer made everything so aggro.

Two listens in and I don't think I'll listen a third. I hear some refinements on the sounds they've been playing with the last few albums, but for four albums now they've sounded tired. I really wanted to like it, seeing the enthusiasm here. I do like certain moments, like the Orbital "Satan" vibes at the end of "Before We Drown"

in the bridge, not at the end

I've been listening to this one constantly and I haven't really cared for anything they've done past Ultra. They're older and possibly a bit weary but they wear it well. And I'm glad it didn't become a funereal slog even though loss of all kinds seems to be the main theme here. There's plenty of good pop here, at least for me.

great show in san jose last night

Absolutely.

loved this

https://www.stereogum.com/2217388/depeche-mode-tribute-bands/columns/sounding-board/

It's such a perfect LA story.

Some more thoughts on the San Jose show and more besides:

https://www.patreon.com/posts/80782098

Cheers, Ned...

(...and not Depeche-relevant, but fyi: calling it a day regardless. (No reason why he can't -- Henry Rollins revealed he's done performing the other week, for instance. Not everyone feels they have to be on the road.) -- Rollins has written and spoken plenty of times in the last 15 years about no longer singing in a band specifically because the impulse to write lyrics left him, but he hasn't stopped performing by any means in that time: there are still 32 dates in four countries left on the remaining nine weeks of his current tour.)

I really love "Soul With Me" from this album. The best song of theirs in a long time.

I do, too.

So, don't know if this story is set to public or not but Grayson Currin, who wrote the Pitchfork review for the album, had an interesting encounter the other day...

happy easter! pic.twitter.com/xz9WzJm1PD

— Alex Sciarra (@prosciutella_) April 9, 2023

Grayson's Facebook essays are the best.

Finally got around to listening to this. I like how full-circle it is, with Kraftwerk nods galore, but I do wish it had a little more life to it.

(this space reserved for a bad dad joke about Memento Anima or Memento Vita)

Memento, the Freshmaker.

Eight Ghosts Again remixes out today, including ones from Matthew Herbert and Luke Slater & Chris Liebing

The Herbert one was pretty solid, need to get through the rest later today.

TikTok has justified its existence

https://www.tiktok.com/@depeche_meme/video/7240922065568648453?_r=1&_t=8cuFShSTbhq

Looooll

Show tonight!