Rating: 4.5/5 stars

If you are looking for an album with authentic ‘80s flair, look no further. Gothic new-wave music gods Depeche Mode (“Spirit”) released their album “Memento Mori” on March 24. It is certainly worth the six-year wait, and the release carries a significance as heavy as its notes. It is the first work produced since the death of co-founder and synth keyboardist, Andy Fletcher, who died suddenly from aortic dissection in May 2022. The title is Latin for “remember you must die” which is in smart contrast to their previous work.

Dave Gahan and Martin Gore had already begun making “Memento Mori” prior to Fletcher’s passing, but according to NME magazine, Gahan said that Fletcher did not record any material for it. This makes “Memento Mori” the first and only album to be recorded and released by remaining co-founders Gahan and Gore alone.

“[Fletcher] never got to hear any of it, which is really sad to me because there are songs on this record where I know he’d be like, ‘This is the best thing we’ve had in years.’ I can hear his voice,” Gahan said to NME magazine. “I can also hear him saying, ‘Does every song have to be about death?!’”

Right away, the opening track “My Cosmos Is Mine” opens with heavy, techno bass and melodic vocals by Gahan. It is echoing and haunting, setting the tone for the rest of the album. “Don’t toy with my heart / Don’t knock down my shrines / Don’t alter my headlines,” Gahan asserts. This is so unmistakably Depeche Mode that even a non-listener would be able to make a rough guess at who is singing.

A boundless amount of synth keyboard goodness envelopes the audience for six heavenly tracks before the absolute trainwreck that is “Caroline’s Monkey.” If not for this song, this album would have absolutely earned a full five stars but it breaks up the experience so violently, one has to wonder how it made the cut. It is, of course, not to any fault of Gore’s instrumentals or the quality of Gahan’s voice. The lyrics about some terrifying pet monkey are horribly out of place on an otherwise excellent 12-track album.

​While every song but one is incredible, only one can be named the standout and that is “Before We Drown.” It is without a doubt, the best example of where Depeche Mode is now as a band. “We have to move forward / Before we drown,” Gahan’s choir-like voice rings. The music is so unapologetically a callback to the sounds that made them famous, and they wear it well.

​It is comforting to know that Depeche Mode can so masterfully wield their talents. The song “People Are Good” so clearly mirrors their hit song “People Are People,” but they do it in such a way that it does not feel like they have simply reused old beats. It is ethereal and beautiful, mature in a way their earlier work had yet to unlock.

The album ends as it began- a deep pulsating bass knocking into your head, a greeting and a goodbye. Closing track “Speak to Me” is melancholic in the best way, balancing themes of inner peace with a deep sense of wanting. It almost creates a loop back into the first track, but not quite. The title seemingly alludes that this is the band’s final album, once and for all. No such mentions have been made, only talk of the Memento Mori Tour getting underway this year. If this truly was goodbye though, Depeche Mode has left nothing unsaid.

Image from Depeche Mode via YouTube