Reduced to a duo, Depeche Mode signs a disc powerfully haunted by death and many sonic nods to the past.
There is on all Depeche Mode albums since the end of the 1980s at least one piece that stands out for its pure melodic line and a few scratchy notes on the guitar. On Memento MoriIt is Ghosts Againwhere Martin Gore and Dave Gahan contemplate no more and no less than their own finality, made cruelly concrete by the sudden and untimely death of their friend Andrew Fletcher in May last year.
Ghosts Again is the song that stands out the most from this 15e disc of the English pioneers of the dark electro. The essence of Memento Mori does not have the almost catchy pulsation of this title. Martin Gore instead develops pieces with sometimes surprisingly retro sounds (Wagging Tongue evokes Jean-Michel Jarre, people are goodKraftwerk, and never let me GB sounding like early 80s Depeche Mode with a pop-punk twist) and full of seriousness.
It’s no surprise: despite having made their mark with danceable electronic music, Depeche Mode have always eyed the dark side of the heart. The difference here is that the duo aren’t trying to lighten the mood. On the contrary.
Don’t Say You Love Me sounds like a kind of blues with a menacing aura, endowed with an epic side like film music. My Perfect Strangerwhich also deals with aging, has something tense and tortured about it. Before We Drown shines like a black jewel. The ironic people are good also stands out with his worried words. There’s a moment of hesitation right in the middle of Memento Mori (double soul with me And Caroline’s Monkey), but Martin Gore, who is still the main musical architect of Depeche Mode, impresses us with the finesse of his electronic violin making and his subtle melodic juxtapositions.
Memento Mori isn’t a great Depeche Mode record, but it’s definitely his strongest since Playing the Angel, nearly 20 years ago. Above all, it’s the inhabited album of a bereaved band that managed to survive itself.
Electro
Memento Mori
Depeche Mode
Columbia/Sony