Memento Mori  by Depeche Mode

The Memento Mori of 2023 becomes the fifteenth studio album of Depeche Mode or rather the first album recorded together by Martin Gore and Dave Gahan, as these two were the only ones left after the unexpected death of Andy Fletcher the previous year. Memento Mori is the album that comes after a discographic absence of six years, which is the longest period between the group's works.

The album is dark and captivating. After all, the listener gets a taste from the cover as well. Musically, while it relies on electropop, one cannot ignore the dark wave hue of its compositions. Four compositions come from the collaboration of Martin Gore with Richard Butler, who was the lyricist and singer of the Psychedelic Furs. Butler sent some demos to Gore for them to create a music project together. Gore was so excited that he included them in Memento Mori. Another change was the first-time collaboration with producer James Ford.

The album reached No. 2 in the United Kingdom, No. 14 in the USA, and No. 1 in Germany, scoring 100,000 sales there. In the USA, it was their first album that did not enter the Top-10 of the Billboard since 1987 (!)