Depeche Mode suffered the loss of keyboardist Andy Fletcher last May, but founding members Dave Gahan and Martin Gore are forging on in his memory. Memento Mori, their new album, and the corresponding Memento Mori World Tour were announced in October.
“We started work on this project early in the pandemic, and its themes were directly inspired by that time,” Gore said in a statement then. “After Fletch’s passing, we decided to continue as we’re sure this is what he would have wanted, and that has really given the project an extra level of meaning.”
Today, February 9, Depeche Mode dropped the album’s first single, “Ghosts Again” — a contemplation of the brevity of life and inevitability of death with poignant lines such as “Heaven’s dreaming / Thoughtless thoughts, my friends / We know we’ll be ghosts again.”
In the black-and-white Anton Corbijn-directed video, Depeche Mode are engaged in an intense chess match on a rooftop while donning ominous black cloaks. They also visit a cemetery — even crawl around at one point — where ghosts dancing in the sky.
“To me, ‘Ghosts Again’ just captures this perfect balance of melancholy and joy,” Gahan said, per press release, with Gore adding, “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.”
Watch the “Ghosts Again” video above.
Memento Mori is out 3/24 via Columbia Records. Pre-order it here.