English electronic band Depeche Mode from Basildon has announced the release date for their upcoming single, “Ghosts Again” which will be released on Thursday 9 February, as they confirmed the announcement on Friday 3 February. The band teased the release of new music on January 27 via Twitter and Instagram, indicating the release of the first single of their upcoming album, Memento Mori, which is due on March 17, via Columbia and Mute records.
Both their Instagram and Twitter post depicts a countdown, followed by a caption that reads, “time is fleeting, see what it brings.” Then they released another post confirming the release of their first single of Memento Mori, “Ghosts Again.”
Ghosts Again, the first single off Depeche Mode’s next album Memento Mori, comes out February 9th, 2023. Set your clocks for Feb 9, 6:00 PM CET/5:00 PM GMT / 11:00 AM ET / 8:00 AM PT. pic.twitter.com/HqgmSeeprt
— Depeche Mode (@depechemode) February 3, 2023
This marks the first album in 6 years (Spirit-2017) as well as the first release, following the death of beloved keyboardist, Andy Fletcher (Fletch) in May last year. Depeche Mode frontman, Dave Gahan broke his silence about the new album and single. Initially, Dave was hesitant about the idea of making a 15th Depeche Mode record. He told NME, “It wasn’t something I dived into, I have got to say. At first, I put up quite a bit of resistance. I would say, I don’t know if I still want to do this; all the usual kind of stuff, but there was a bit more of that than usual.”
Gahan also confirmed during the chat with NME that Memento Mori began construction before the death of Fletcher. He explained, “He never got to hear any of it, which is really sad to me because there are songs on this record where I know he’d be like, ‘This is the best thing we’ve had in years.’ I can hear his voice. I can also hear him saying, ‘Does every song have to be about death?!'”
The concept of Memento Mori is mostly rooted in positivity, resemblance to escapism for him and Martin Gore. He says, “The one thing I can do is make music with Martin, then we can go do our thing and hopefully that brings people together. It’s just all too much, in the world and the news right now.”
Depeche Mode announced the 15th album in October, alongside a world tour. The album’s name, Memento Mori, deliberately indicates the loss of Fletcher, who was a dear friend. a “memento mori” is an object resembling a reminder that death will always be inevitable. According to Martin Gore, the name concept was chosen prior to Fletcher’s passing. “It sounds very morbid, but I think you can look at it very positively as well. Gore says. “I think that’s how we like to interpret it too… 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.”
Europe 2023 Tour Dates
05/16/2023- Ziggo Dome- Amsterdam, The Netherlands
05/18- Ziggo Dome- Amsterdam, The Netherlands *EXTRA DATE*
05/20- Sportpaleis Antwerpen- Antwerp, Belgium
05/23- Friends Arena- Stockholm, Sweden
05/26- Leipziger Festwiese- Leipzig, Germany
05/28- Narodny Futbalovy Stadion- Bratislava, Slovakia
More tour dates will be available here.
