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British electronic music pioneers Depeche Mode announced a new album and world tour on Tuesday(October 4), their first since the death of founding member Andrew Fletcher this year. In a press event held live at the Berliner Ensemble, singer Dave Gahan and guitarist and keyboardist Martin Gore said they were still working on “Memento Mori,“ their 15th studio album since the band originally formed in Basildon, eastern England in 1980. The title, meaning “Remember you must die,“ was chosen before Fletcher, the band's keyboard player, died in May. “We're quite far into it now, the actual recording process. We got all of the tracks finished kind of for the album without them being mixed,“ Gore said. “All of the songs and even the album title was kind of decided before Andy passed,“ Gore added. “I know it sounds very morbid but I think you can look at it very positively as well, you know, live each day to the max. I think that's how we like to interpret it too.“ Most of the songs were penned during the COVID-19 pandemic, with their themes inspired by that period, Gore said. Fletcher died after suffering an aortic dissection. He was 60. Gore and Gahan returned to the studio in July. “And of course we'd miss Fletch. You know, Fletch would comment on some thing or he would, you know ... and those are things you miss about somebody when they are not there,“ Gahan said in Berlin. The band will kick off a world tour to support the album's spring release, in March. “Still that process is still happening, you know, what we are going to be doing on stage and how we are going to do it. What visuals we are going to use and things,“ Gahan said, when asked what stage tributes the band were planning for Fletcher. “He'll be there in spirit anyway, I'm sure, judging us,“ he said laughing. Depeche Mode, known for songs such as “Personal Jesus“ and “Enjoy the Silence,“ released their first album “Speak & Spell“ in 1981, placing them at the center of Britain's new wave scene. They released their last studio album, “Spirit,“ in 2017.
