What does it sound like?:
Those of us who thought the death of Andrew Fletcher in May 2022 might put an end to Depeche Mode were very wrong. Momento Mori translates as “remember we must die”, but that doesn’t apply to Depeche Mode. It might even be one of their little jokes, but more on that later. If we fast forward 50 years, Dave Gahan and Martin Gore will be gone – but there’s every chance that Depeche Mode will still exist as a going concern.
This album hasn’t bedded in yet but it’s important to write down first impressions and perhaps revisit these later when it settles in to its place at the table.
Before we get on to the music, the cover art is definitely a return to form. The record is beautiful thing to have and to hold in your hands. On the back cover we see a human skull on a table with two empty chairs either side. Inside, the same image but with Dave Gahan and Martin Gore sitting on the chairs. Does the skull represent their deceased friend…? Or is it simply a reference to the ancient motif associated with the album’s title? To remove all doubt, they could have had the skull wearing glasses – but that would have delivered Eric Morecambe levels of hilarity, which goes to show how thin the line between clever and stupid is.
Right then, the songs. I’ll be honest with you – when I saw the title My Cosmos is Mine and it being the opening track, I thought it would be a difficult-to-like rumbler and will not be the slam dunk opener that converts the doubters. I was right! It’s a fan-pleaser rather than a crowd pleaser, and I recommend that curious neutrals come back to this one later.
Gore likes to have a challenging opener and this is definitely one of those. The shouted middle eight offers no counter-melody and sounds silly. As ever, I chuckle at their audacity and decide that they must know what they’re doing. It does however have some incredible sounds buried deep, deep in the mix engineered by Marta Salogni. This is satisfying to the Depeche Mode community and sets the scene for the album – but the time-poor listener might decide it’s a “routine slab of gloom” and move on.
Wagging Tongue is bright and perky, and is one of two songs directly referencing Kraftwerk. This in itself is interesting because Depeche Mode’s sound regularly appears in other people’s songs but I have never heard them openly sample
other artists before this.
Ghosts Again comes next, it is now reassuringly familiar and the album’s best song – a simple lyric and a sublime guitar riff throughout. Some sumptuous and sparking electro euphoria makes us feel good until its abrupt end. It really is up there as one of their best.
Don’t Say You Love Me is a torch song and I can imagine a younger Morrissey singing it. Once I got that thought in my head I couldn’t get rid of it – so it’s probably the weakest track. My Favourite Stranger has a dirty, grunty driving beat and a broody, menacing vocal from Gahan. Yes, that’s always good – it’s bread and butter Depeche Mode.
Then we’re back to torch song territory with Soul With Me. Martin Gore is a very good singer and this is a very good song. If it was on an Adele album, you’d hear it everywhere. Gore says that there’s a joke in this song that amuses him – when he sings “I’m taking my soul with me” – the music then turns into a soul track. He might be thinking of another version that isn’t on the album because I don’t hear that at all. It’s one of his little jokes and as usual it’s gone whooshing over my head.
Then we move to the curious item that is Caroline’s Monkey. On this occasion, I am not using “curious” as a euphemism for “shit”. It really is a strange and interesting song. It’s not experimental or difficult but it interrupts in the flow of the album and makes me wonder if a standalone release or a B-side (if they still do those) would have been a better home for it.
Then we get to Before We Drown and, my word, this delivers an adrenaline rush inside that tells me I’m listening to a fantastic Depeche Mode song. It’s a Dave Gahan composition and this is why the lyrics are simple but sometimes that’s OK. On the subject of lyrics, there are times when Martin Gore will break your heart but there are also times when he can split your sides. On this record, he has collaborated with Richard Butler (Psychedelic Furs) and I think that quality control means we have no unintentionally amusing lyrics to report. Apologies to those who enjoy that kind of thing.
Then we’re back to sampling Kraftwerk on the utterly tremendous People are Good. This will get you bashing the steering wheel outside Sainsburys. Not only that, but they’re sampling themselves from 1993 (I Feel You). That’s a new quirk. There’s also a lyrical reference to another Depeche Mode song on Caroline’s Monkey – but they have done this before.
We’re back in the Berlin cabaret under a spotlight for Always You but there’s room for squelchy Daft Punk-type swirliness out round the back – and then we are at a Joy Division gig for the wonderful, shouty, pacey Never Let Me Go.
The album ends on a low in terms of pace but a high in terms of quality with Speak to Me. Again, a neutral may not have the patience to stick around but Marta goes bananas on this one, concocting an electronic crescendo that brings to mind A Day in the Life. One thing I haven’t done yet is listen to this with headphones. I think that’s going to reveal many more treats as this record sounds heavy, arty, dark and multi-layered. Ooh is that a theremin? Why yes I do believe it is.
In summary, it’s the album we have been waiting for since 1997’s Ultra. I am always positive about new Depeche Mode releases but I am genuinely buoyed by this one.
What does it all *mean*?
It means Depeche Mode are not going anywhere for now. It doesn’t feel like a final record but an 18 month world tour could mean it might be.
Goes well with…
Release Date:
24 March 2023
Might suit people who like…
Kraftwerk, Joy Division, Daft Punk, Iggy, Kurt Weill, Bjork
napaj says
My first impression(s):
Memento Mori is clearly way better than Spirit. (This is, of course, a very simple achievement).
But, I think I already like it better than Delta, SOTU and Playing the Angel. (Which is varying levels of difficulty, ranging from ‘not difficult’ to ‘a minor achievement’).
It’s not going to come close to peak Depeche, but…… I think I like it.
Going in with low expectations has its advantages.
🙂
Just how much I like it, time will tell.
Having said that, it still features:
– too many weedy drum sounds for my liking (really, what do these guys have against a decent snare sound these days?)
– a compressed/distorted sound (or whatever the technical term if that that ‘sounds loud’ thing). Not as bad as, say, Playing the Angel, but I will never understand the loudness wars thing. If an artist cares for their art, why do they spoil it with this nonsense.
Looking at the songwriting credits, I’m not entirely convinced that our hero (Martin) has his mojo fully back.
I’m not interested in ‘live’ DM. I saw a few vids from the first night of the tour and that’s enough of the gurning/clown acting Dave for me. I can’t remember which song it was, but Mart was stood there with his guitar (not playing anything), keyboard guy was not touching his keyboard and drummer guy was going wild (of course). I’d love to hear what DM were like sans ‘playback tapes’. Not much at all, I guess.
napaj says
Oh yes, forgot to say…. Dave’s vocals are really fab throughout.
Black Celebration says
Craving the sound of a snare drum on a Depeche Mode record sounds odd, but I know what you mean.
I remember listening to Violator and not immediately getting it – wondering why it was so slow and droney. It’s my favourite now. MM has the feeling of Some Great Reward or Black Celebration – a variety box with some immediately great moments. Time and good headphones may reveal more.
napaj says
Snare. Not my best choice of words. Don’t want Metallica!
I’d really like to hear some decent meaty sounding drums, rather than the flimsy weedy things we have put up with for the most part since Exciter. They obviously like the rubbish drum sounds, though, bizarrely.
Bargepole says
Only a casual fan, but I was in HMV yesterday and they were playing this, and I have to say I was pretty impressed with what I heard.
Great review by he way!
Black Celebration says
Thanks!
Franco says
Really enjoyed your review. Just out of interest whats your opinion on the likes of Front 242, KMFDM, Nitzer Ebb and Frontline Assembly?
Captain Darling says
Jumping in ahead of Mr Celebration, as a fellow fan of this sort of musical milieu:
Front 242 – too dance-y for me. Only got one of their albums, a live double, and that’s probably enough.
KMFDM – not bad, synth/industrial with quite a few songs about, erm, KMFDM (being in the band, how good the band is, etc.). Little repetitive, but some of the remixes are very powerful indeed.
Nitzer Ebb – got a best-of but can’t really get into them. Doesn’t grab me, for some reason.
FLA – terrific industrial. All the mechanical FX, electronic drums, samples, and harsh vocals you could want. Their live stuff (e.g., Live Wired) is the music that will be playing when the AI and machines take over.
In a similar vein, I recommend Wumpscut. Like FLA but with a few more dials turned up to 11.
Franco says
Thanks Captain. Just discovered FLA and I agree with everything you say. Powerful stuff. Front 242 for me are summed up by the Tyranny For You album. Music for a Dalek disco.
I wonder how many of these bands were initially influenced by Depeche Mode. Quite a few I would imagine.
Black Celebration says
Thanks for the response and the question @franco. The answer is, to my shame, that I am aware of these bands and I know I should probably like them – but I haven’t really investigated further. Same goes for Rammstein and Einsturzende Neubaten.
Matthew Todd Naylor recently came to my attention though. This brief piece gives you an idea of his capabilities and I’m getting into his catalogue now.
Freddy Steady says
Heard the title track on 6Music in the week and thought it sounded very good indeed. Probably not enough to make me purchase the album but still.
Native says
I like Caroline’s Monkey – have to confess.
I also like People Are Good. Two dreadful song titles, but my two favourite tracks after Ghosts Again.
The run of five songs from Caroline’s Monkey to Never Let Me Go are great.
Black Celebration says
Yes, a. friend of mine said exactly that.
deramdaze says
Momento Mori is the name of a Muriel Spark novel from 1959.
seanioio says
Great review, thank you. I’m away with work this week & have purposefully only listened to it once so I can have a proper go at it through headphones. From one listen I agree with a lot of the above & can’t wait to delve further
Dave Ross says
Great stuff BC. Any reference to the immense I Feel You gets my interest. I will be giving this a listen.
Black Celebration says
Thank you Mods for putting the album cover on there.
Lemonhead1981 says
In my local HMV the price of the ‘standard’ CD is £17.99 and the ‘deluxe’ CD (same music) is £23.99….vinyl is £44.99. Ridiculous prices!
Black Celebration says
For anyone interested, there’s a new video release for Wagging Tongue. Very Kraftwerk-inspired (Europe Endless) and the recurring lyrical theme of keeping things on the downlow and putting a sock in it.
The video is very much in keeping with the enigmatic grainy monochrome we have come to know and love.
This one isn’t a Corbijn production but it’s not a million miles away from something he would do.
I like that the flowers on the cover of MM are there and we can only imagine what it is the young couple cannot talk about unless they plunge their heads underwater.
Black Celebration says
Another single release from the album with the now-traditional black and white video that doesn’t feature the band at all. I thought we might be continuing the story from Wagging Tongue, with the woman we are following removing her disguise and being the same person as before – but it isn’t.
The song has a lovely dark bass line throbbing through it and I think would have been more effective as a more minimalist production but repeated listens are rewarding when you pick up more of the subtleties fluttering around the lamp.