Depeche Mode have announced details of their 15th studio album, Memento Mori, set to be released next spring in advance of a major world tour.
In a break from tradition, Dave Gahan and Martin Gore revealed at a press event in Berlin on 4 October that the Live Nation-presented tour will begin with a special, limited series of North American arena dates on 23 March 2023, before the band heads to Europe for their summer stadium jaunt. The album and shows will be the first re-emergence of Depeche Mode since the death of Andy Fletcher in May.
The North American shows feature dates at New York’s Madison Square Garden, Chicago’s United Center, Los Angeles’ Kia Forum and Toronto’s Scotiabank Arena, among others. The band will then begin their European stadium tour on 16 May, with noted stops including the Stade de France in Paris, Berlin’s Olympic Stadium, Milan’s San Siro Stadium and London’s Twickenham Stadium on 17 June.
Speaking about the new Columbia Recordsreleased album – the follow-up to 2017’s critically-acclaimed Spirit LP, which made it to No.1 in 11 countries worldwide – Martin Gore explained: “We started work on this project early in the pandemic, and its themes were directly inspired by that time. 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.”
Dave Gahan added: “Fletch would have loved this album. We’re really looking forward to sharing it with you soon, and can’t wait to present it at the shows next year.”
The Memento Mori Tour will be Depeche Mode’s 19th. The band’s most recent outing, the 2017-2018 Global Spirit Tour, was their longest to date and one of the year’s highest-grossing tours, with Depeche playing to more than three million fans over the course of 130 shows spread across Europe and North America.
OMD AND SOFT CELL ARE AMONG LET’S ROCK HEADLINERS FOR 2023
Let’s Rock has unveiled details of seven of its upcoming festivals for 2023 with Soft Cell making their debut appearances.
Fresh from the success of comeback album *Batteries Not Included, released earlier this year, Marc Almond and Dave Ball have signed up for their first shows at the retro festival and explained: “We are delighted to be headlining so many Let’s Rock festivals in 2023. We’re playing Northern Ireland, Shrewsbury, Exeter and Southampton for the first time ever as Soft Cell – as well as in our spiritual home of Leeds.”
Among the other headliners announced for 2023’s festivals are OMD, The Human League, Ban
