Article Excerpt:
In “Ghosts Again,” one of many introspective moments on Depeche Mode’s 15th full-length, Memento Mori, Dave Gahan croons, “Time is fleeting.” This is not a new revelation, but the tranquility in his voice feels fresh. More than four decades have passed since the group formed as a quartet of mostly teens eager to immerse themselves in the nascent synth-pop culture with party anthems like “Just Can’t Get Enough.” Now, with only Gahan and Martin Gore left in the lineup following the death last year of keyboardist Andy “Fletch” Fletcher, they’re asking, “How much time do we have left?”
Melancholy has long been an important part of the Depeche Mode experience, and, other than in their earliest days when Vince Clarke (later of Yazoo) was leading the group with carefree dance songs, they’ve specialized in vulnerability. That openness, a sense of surrender, is the essential ingredient to Depeche Mode now. Even at their most romantic, like on, say, “Enjoy the Silence,” they’ve acknowledged how recognizing the absences in life are just as important as appreciating what you have. So it’s not surprising that the group, whose two members are now in their 60s, titled the album Memento Mori — a friendly reminder in Latin that you will (nay, must!) die someday — and they picked it while Fletch was still alive. (Fletch’s death didn’t make them second-guess the title. Instead, Gore has said, “It cemented it.”)
Acknowledging mortality defines much of Memento Mori, but it never feels heavy handed or even all that sullen. Some of the tracks even sound upbeat.