In a press conference broadcast live from Berlin, vocalist Dave Gahan and guitarist and keyboardist Martin Gore of band Depeche Mode said they were still working on
Memento Mori.
It is their 15th studio album since the band formed in Basildon, East England, in 1980.
The title of this disc which means
"remember that you must die"
, was chosen before the death of Andrew Fletcher, the keyboardist of the group, in May.
“We are quite advanced in the registration process.
We have finished all the tracks on the album but we still have to mix them
,” said Martin Gore.
Adding that
“all the songs and even the title of the album were decided before Andy died.
The title sounds very morbid but I think you can see it in a very positive way, saying you have to live every day to the fullest.
That's how we like to interpret it too."
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Most of the songs were written during the COVID-19 pandemic, and their themes were inspired by that time, the guitarist said in a statement on the band's website.
"After Fletch passed away, we decided to continue because we're sure that's what he would have wanted, and it really gave the project an extra level of meaning
," he added.
Andrew Fletcher has died aged 60, after undergoing an aortic dissection.
Martin Gore and Dave Gahan (who aren't always the best of friends) returned to the studio in July.
"A lot of times we were joking or things were popping up and of course we missed Fletch,"
the guitarist said in Berlin.
The keyboardist once held the band together and often acted as an intermediary or mediator in the ego war that exists between Gore and Gahan.
The band will embark on a world tour in support of the album's spring release in March.
“That process is still ongoing, what we're going to do on stage, how we're going to do it, what visuals we're going to use,”
said David Gahan, when asked what stage tributes the band is planning for Andrew Fletcher.
"He'll be there in spirit anyway, I'm sure, judging us
," he added.
Depeche Mode, known for songs such as
Personal Jesus
and
Enjoy the Silence
, released their debut album
Speak & Spell
in 1981. The iconic British new wave band released their latest studio album,
Spirit
, in 2017.
