Over four months after Depeche Mode announced the impending arrival of their new album Memento Mori, the Rock Hall-inducted band have finally shared the LP’s first single “Ghosts Again.”
The now-duo (following the death of Andy Fletcher) paired the synth-rock track with a video directed by longtime collaborator Anton Corbijn, who also photographed the Memento Mori album cover; Corbijn has helmed over 20 Depeche Mode videos over the past 35 years, including the visuals for “Policy of Truth,” “I Feel You” and “Never Let Me Down Again.”
“To me, ‘Ghosts Again’ just captures this perfect balance of melancholy and joy,” singer Dave Gahan said in a statement, while Martin Gore added, “It’s not often that we record a song that I just don’t get sick of listening to – I’m excited to be able to share it.”
Memento Mori — Depeche Mode’s 15th studio album, their first since 2017’s Spirit as well as their first as a duo — arrives on March 24. A day before the album’s release, the band will embark on a brief North American trek before heading overseas to Europe for a summer-long tour.
“The direct translation [for ‘memento mori’] is, ‘Remember that you must die,’” Gahan told Rolling Stone of the LP in October. “A lot of the songs are going into that place of reminding ourselves that our time is fleeting, and you got to make the best of it — in a positive way.” Gore added that the first time he heard the Latin phrase from a friend, “I just thought, ‘What a great album title for the songs that had been written already.’” As the duo also revealed, the May 2022 death of co-founding member “Fletch” also hangs over the album’s 12 songs.
Memento Mori Track List
My Cosmos Is Mine
Wagging Tongue
Ghosts Again
Don’t Say You Love Me
My Favourite Stranger
Soul With Me
Caroline’s Monkey
Before We Drown
People Are Good
Always You
Never Let Me Go
Speak To Me