SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: DEPECHE MODE – MEMENTO MORI

Depeche Mode
Memento Mori
Columbia Records

Depeche Mode continues to cement its legacy as one of the best bands to come out of the 1980s with their latest release Memento Mori. 

Memento Mori is equal parts haunting and beautiful. They experiment with unusual, eerie, and experimental synth sounds, and the topics of death, ghosts, and souls play a large part in the album. Lyrically it is dark and bleak but also hopeful, intimate and personal. Songs like “Soul With Me”, “Ghosts Again”, or “Wagging Tongue” work great as heartwarming and touching tributes to co-founder and keyboardist Andrew (“Andy”) Fletcher, who died on 26 May, 2022.

The synth hooks and riffs are brilliant and are some of the best in a long time by Depeche Mode. “Before We Drown”, with its mixture of industrial and techno sounds, feels like it came straight out of the 80s. “Speak To Me” manages to produce a sound that makes it belong in a science-fiction movie, especially the last minute of the song.

“Ghosts Again” is Depeche Mode at its best and, in the future, could be as beloved as “Enjoy The Silence” or “Personal Jesus”. It features incredibly catchy synth hooks, a powerful chorus that is easy to sing along to, some of the best songwriting of their career, and great vocal work by Martin Gore and Dave Gahan.

Overall, Memento Mori is as great as some of their 80s and 90s music and is an album Andy Fletcher would be proud of.

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