Written By Kieran Bugg and Mikey Sutton • Editor-in-Chief • Owner
Depeche Mode collaborated with fellow New Wave icons the Psychedelic Furs on their 15th album, Memento Mori. Throughout the ’80s, both bands ruled college and alternative radio stations with their signature post-punk styles. Although both acts did find mainstream success, Depeche Mode proved to be among the most influential artists of all time. In fact, Depeche Mode were inducted in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2020.
Depeche Mode’s keyboardist/songwriter Martin Gore and vocalist Dave Gahan have discussed what the Psychedelic Furs’ leader Richard Butler brought to their upcoming album. After six years, Depeche Mode is finally about to release their long-awaited Memento Mori.
In addition, Memento Mori will mark their first new material since the passing of founding member Andy Fletcher last year.
Moreover, to celebrate this occasion, Gore and Gahan have recently spoke to NME about Memento Mori. It turns out that four of the tracks featured in the album were co-written by Butler. Gore explained:
“I’ve never written with anyone outside of the band in our history. Richard reached out to me around April 2020, just texting to say ‘We should write some songs together’. I asked for ideas and he sent me a few lines, so I put those to music and we started sending them back and forth. W e ended up writing seven songs. We didn’t like the first one, but the other six were so great that I thought it would be a bit of a waste to put them out as a side-project. They just wouldn’t get the same sort of exposure as they would if they were put out by Depeche.”
Depeche Mode In First Ever Alliance With Psychedelic Furs On 15th Album
Image: Depeche Mode
Furthermore, Gore also confessed that he’s always admired Butler as a songwriter. Thus, having him on board for Memento Mori was big help during the creative process.
He added:
“He’s really great at coming up with ideas – especially during times when I wasn’t feeling particularly creative because there wasn’t a lot of stimulus coming in, I was just sitting at home and he was prodding me and giving me ideas. That kept the wheels moving.”
Nonetheless, this isn’t an indication that Butler will be joining the band. When asked if Butler could potentially become a full-time, Gore immediately shut this down.
He revealed:
“No, even when we finished the seven songs we were thinking that we’d put out a side project. He knew that when I asked if we could use the songs for Depeche, that it didn’t include him joining. What could he do? Be Bez? Not when Dave’s singing the songs!”
Gahan also opened up on his own reaction to Butler’s involvement in their new album.
Going into detail, Gahan explained:
“Martin sent me about six songs, and Richard Butler was singing on a few of them. I was like, ‘…The f— is this?’ Then Martin explained that during COVID he and Richard had written some songs together. I don’t care who wrote them, but they were some great songs. One of them was ‘Ghosts Again’, which I loved straight away. Straight away when I heard the demo, it was like when I first heard ‘Enjoy The Silence’. I felt the melancholy and the joy at the same time. It was a special song and I wanted to sing it.”
Depeche Mode In First Ever Alliance With Psychedelic Furs On 15th Album
Image: Depeche Mode
Gahan has three songwriting credits for Memento Mori. Gore considers his bandmate’s work on the album to be his most impressive work to date. Gore stated:
“Dave’s writing gets better with each record we do, and that’s interesting to see.”
It’s been a long time coming for Depeche Mode’s next LP. So far it’s sounding like Memento Mori will more than live up to the hype.