This 15th studio album of the flagship group of British synthetic pop is released this Friday. And is in line with records marked by destiny. Like "Closer" (1980), Joy Division's second and final album, with a photo of funerary statues on the cover, a choice made before the suicide of singer and leader Ian Curtis.

Fletcher's death "in a way cemented the title of the album," Gore told AFP last October. "We thought it was a good title anyway; After he died, he seemed really right."

It's no secret that "Fletch" as he was called, who died at 60 in May 2022 of a rare vascular disease, was not the major piece of music in Depeche Mode's sound architecture. But this founding member was the link between the two leaders, Dave Gahan and Martin Gore, who were not known to be the greatest friends in life.

"Fletch" was "the one who came up to me and said: +You know, Martin doesn't want to do this or that+. Suddenly, he's not here and now Martin and I have to talk to each other," Gahan told French newspaper Le Figaro.

"Old brother"

"During the making of the record, Martin told me +it's strange, I feel like I'm finding an old brother that I would have lost sight of a long time ago+. We had to communicate again and I think it marked this record, "continues the interpreter of texts and music of Gore. Who also sometimes composes some titles, as on "Memento Mori", one of the most successful albums of the formation.

Some titles of the songs of this album take a funny echo compared to the dynamics of the group. Like "My favourite stranger", an electro gem by Gore and Richard Butler (leader of the band Psychedelic Furs). Which could thus refer to Gahan and Gore (both in their sixties), long distant. Even if in the song, the narrator talks about this other he sees every day in the mirror.

Martin Gore (left) and Dave Gahan, of the group Depeche Mode, on October 4, 2022 during a press conference in Berlin © John MACDOUGALL / AFP / Archives

And the album ends with "Speak to me", signed Gahan and other collaborators, one of the two tracks of the record (12 tracks in total) where Gore does not appear in the credits.

"Ghosts again" is obviously reminiscent of the soul of "Fletch", who disappeared before the finalization of the record in the studio, hovering over this album and the world tour to defend it that will open this week in the United States.

"When we were in the studio ... +Fletch+ missed him", but he will participate in the tour "in spirit, to judge us", Gahan told the press in October in Berlin.

Gore had known "Fletch" since he was a teenager. "Andy loved hotel bars. As we travel around the world, I expect to see him sitting at hotel bars with a pint in front of him. I can't help it," Gore told AFP in Berlin.

"Memento Mori" is bathed in dark textures, even though the album was recorded in studios in California. But this black diamond with pop and electro reflections is not depressing.

The title of the album "sounds very morbid but we can also see it in a very positive way, in the sense of +live every day to the fullest+", Gore said in Berlin.

© 2023 AFP