'Memento Mori' review: Depeche Mode face down death and the abyss


By AGENCY

File photo taken on October 4, 2022 of members of the English electronic music band Depeche Mode, Martin Gore (left) and Dave Gahan. – Photo: AFP

Memento Mori
Depeche Mode
Columbia Records

And then there were only two. Depeche Mode have always been a genre unto itself: a vibe, a sort of feedback loop that is timeless yet nostalgic, dark, edgy, a little too dark sometimes but always so cool.

Their 15th studio album titled Memento Mori (Latin for "remember you will die") feels both like a tribute to founding member and keyboardist Andy Fletcher who died in May 2022 and left them a duo (Dave Gahan and Martin Gore) and a mission statement of their music.

The 12 tracks are fully Depeche, fully intoxicating in sound, artistically evocative and sometimes puzzling (like the compelling but strange Caroline’s Monkey).

The music is staring lovingly into the abyss and asking it to love it back; death is always hovering on the periphery of the sound, a grunge, industrial, rainy sound also filled with a strange kindness.

Soul With Me is an incredible ballad where Gahan’s voice changes to an unrecognizable pitch, while Before We Drown is an electro sexy tune, while My Cosmos Is Mine has a dramatic tempo to it that works. Ghost Again hooks you with its deep fry bass and People are Good engages the aural with an unusual vibrato.

Depeche Mode might be facing their own mortality but their power as musicians stretches into infinity. – AP

8 10

Summary:

Full-fletched Depeche, fully intoxicating in sound, artistically evocative and sometimes puzzling.

Follow us on our official WhatsApp channel for breaking news alerts and key updates!

Depeche Mode

   

Next In Entertainment

From singing to Muay Thai boxing and back - popular singer Aizat Amdan pens his fighting spirit in his new single 'Tegap Berdiri'
HK star Chow Yun Fat addresses tumour rumours, reveals truth about lumps on his legs
Actor Danny X-Factor still works as ehailing driver, doesn’t want to ask his wife for money
Food Network chef Tobias Dorzon shot in DC-area robbery attempt
Singer Dua Lipa ups her culinary game at Singapore's food court
2 hotel workers, ‘friend’ of Liam Payne eyed in death probe
Ariana Grande celebrates romance with co-star Ethan Slater as 'Wicked' premieres Down Under
Rashidi Ishak comments on Fazura's singing, suggests getting vocal coach: ‘She’s tone-deaf’
Body of One Direction star Liam Payne flown home to Britain
Indonesian star Barbie Kumalasari reveals shocking 9th plastic surgery; aspires to get Kylie Jenner's eye shape

Others Also Read