“Martin Gore has left his comfort zone”

Martin Gore is happy that he can finally talk about it: For the upcoming album “Memento Mori” he wrote songs together with others for Depeche Mode for the first time – so not only that others might add something to his songs, but really together. There’s Wagging Tongue, which he wrote with singer Dave Gahan, and there’s four songs with Psychedelic Furs head Richard Butler, including the single Ghosts Again. And that’s how it happened: “We’ve been exchanging messages for a long time and we’ve been thinking about writing songs together. He got in touch again in April 2020, so I asked him for ideas. It went back and forth like that. In total we worked on seven tracks. The first one wasn’t that good, but the others were fun and we really liked them. We didn’t have a plan – back then it wasn’t clear how we would use them. At some point I asked him if he would agree if I used them for Depeche. He was okay with that. They just go really well with our aesthetic.”

Gahan agrees, immediately liking Butler’s posts. But now he has to laugh because he also remembers his doubts: “Richard even sang on some of Martin’s first demos – that was a bit strange for me! He has such a special timbre, an unmistakable, powerful voice – I had to mentally remove it in order to be able to imagine it as a Depeche Mode song.” Luckily Gahan is now self-confident about his own voice, and he is can ungrudgingly acknowledge what his colleagues have achieved there: “I thought it was great that Martin left his comfort zone to write songs with someone else. Martin has always been more to himself and has done everything himself. I didn’t even know about ‘Don’t Say You Love Me’ that it was also a collaborative work, I assumed it was Martin’s work. And I couldn’t wait to sing on it. I LOVE this song!” Gahan enjoyably lengthens the word “love” and leaves no doubt: Depeche Mode are still very much alive.

You can read the entire Depeche Mode interview, which also deals with song lyrics, recordings in the bathroom and worries about the future, in the upcoming ROLLING STONE – on newsstands from March 30th.

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With the April 2023 issue of ROLLING STONE we are releasing another special collector’s item: An exclusive vinyl single with two songs by Depeche Mode – on the A side “Ghosts Again” from the new album “Memento Mori”, on the B side the famous song “Never Let Me Down Again” from the album “Music For The Masses” (1987).

With the April 2023 issue of ROLLING STONE, we are releasing another special collector’s item: an exclusive vinyl single with two songs by Depeche Mode – on the A side “Ghosts Again” from the new album “Memento Mori”, on the B-side the famous song “Never Let Me Down Again” from the album Music For The Masses (1987).

The 7″ single comes in a sturdy, carefully designed cardboard sleeve and on heavyweight vinyl.

It is only available with the German edition of ROLLING STONE and not in record stores.

Included in delivery: ROLLING STONE issue 04/2023 + exclusive DEPECHE MODE 7″ vinyl single.

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