Albums to watch

Memento Mori

Depeche Mode

Memento Mori

Fifteenth studio album from the synth-pop stalwarts and first without Andy Fletcher who died in May 2022

ADM rating[?]

8.1

Label
Sony Music
UK Release date
24/03/2023
US Release date
24/03/2023
  1. 10.0 |   The Arts Desk

    Sorrow and mortality have always been part of the Depeche Mode palette but here they’re acutely felt
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  2. 9.0 |   All Music

    Though not their most immediate offering, Memento Mori is their most heartfelt, thoughtful, and moving statement in decades
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  3. 9.0 |   The Quietus

    An absolute triumph
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  4. 9.0 |   XS Noize

    See review
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  5. 9.0 |   The Line Of Best Fit

    After almost 40 years in the business, Depeche Mode are still at the top of their game and ready to explore their vulnerabilities in new and intense ways
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  6. 9.0 |   musicOMH

    With the bridge that ‘Fletch’ provided now absent, Dave Gahan and Martin Gore have realigned, uniting to preserve the legacy of the band and mark his memory
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  7. 8.0 |   The Independent

    Dave Gahan and Martin Gore’s first album since the death of their bandmate Tony Fletcher offers a more nuanced side of their dark electronic sound
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  8. 8.0 |   Record Collector

    Memento Mori is brimming and sometimes soaring with immediate pop songs, belying those recent years where they’ve apparently been wading through life
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  9. 8.0 |   NME

    Following the passing of beloved bandmate Andy Fletcher, the now-duo reunite on a touching, resurgent record
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  10. 8.0 |   Rolling Stone

    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. ... As always with Depeche Mode, everything counts in large amounts, and on Memonto Mori, the stakes feel bigger than ever
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  11. 8.0 |   Uncut

    Their most powerful work this century. It's the sound of a band entering a final act with a renewed sense of purpose, and sharp, sober new focus
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  12. 8.0 |   The Observer

    Andy Fletcher’s two surviving bandmates reflect on mortality on an album of warm, weird electro-pop
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  13. 8.0 |   The Irish Times

    Ahe atmosphere is a dance between muscularity and looseness, and, while underpinned by a sense of grief, it is equally underpinned by a sense of urgency
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  14. 8.0 |   Exclaim

    On Memento Mori, Depeche Mode turn this philosophical reminder into a beautiful, raw, and passionate rebirth
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  15. 8.0 |   Clash

    It’s unlikely they’ll change the minds of non-listeners, as foolish as such people are. The same ground is tread here, just in new shoes
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  16. 7.4 |   Sputnik Music (staff)

    If this is the last one we receive from them, it’s a fitting end. Whatever may come after, it will be a welcomed bonus
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  17. 7.1 |   Pitchfork

    On their most engaged album in a quarter-century, Martin Gore and Dave Gahan find that familiar sounds can offer several new ways forward
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  18. 7.0 |   PopMatters

    Depeche Mode’s Memento Mori is a testament to the power of art to call us to see more clearly in the absence of resolution
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  19. 6.8 |   Spectrum Culture

    Memento Mori is a reminder of death, but it is also a reminder of Depeche Mode itself, a synth-rock institution that continues to resonate among those who feel lost and alone in the world
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