Depeche Mode, those pre-Industrial gods who influenced metal as much as EDM, are delivering fans plenty of gifts recently. First, the group's most recent concert film, Depeche Mode: M, has been released in theatres and is a must-see event if there is a showing anywhere near you.
The footage was filmed in Mexico City and interweaves a narrative of how Mexican culture views death. It is a unique experience that was brilliantly chosen by the band, as well as Mexican filmmaker Fernando Frias. The absolute of death is ever-present, of course, but if anyone is familiar with the work of Depeche Mode, one understands there will be layers to the context.
But the members of the band, Dave Gahan and Martin Gore, are giving us more, too. The film will be released in December as part of a vinyl set and DVD, and Blu-ray set. Some of the songs will have yet to be released, and one of those tracks is "In the End," a song Depeche Mode just released.
Depeche Mode delivers a new track along with a new concert film
It is soulful and yearning, and definitely deals with darkness. Gahan sings about being "dust again," which fits with the theme of Memento Mori, the duo's most recent album. It is a reminder of the inevitable, while coupled with the fact that while still living, we should do our best to live to our fullest. A fight against the dying of the light.
The amazing aspect is that after nearly 45 years of making music, Depeche Mode is as vibrant now as they were in the 1980s. They aren't just a thin synth band (and if one has seen them live, one will know how the band can tend toward being fully Industrial), but have the talent to consistently create elite song structures and melodies.
Memento Mori was mostly written before and during the COVID pandemic. The reality of life and death was everywhere, sadly. The band also had to struggle with the death of long-time member Andrew Fletcher. What you got from Depeche Mode was real, just as it always has been.