Depeche Mode: what did Dave Gahan say about Andy Fletcher and 2023 album Memento Mori - will they play live?

Following the death of keyboardist Andy Fletcher earlier this year, Depeche Mode have announced a new album with an “extra level of meaning.”

Fletcher, often known as "Fletch," started the band in Basildon, Essex in 1980, and died in May at the age of 60.

Here is everything you need to know about the new album.

What is the new album called?

Martin Gore and singer Dave Gahan, the remaining members of Depeche Mode, said they opted to finish the new album, named ‘Memento Mori’, since it is what Fletcher would have wanted.

A ‘memento mori’ is an object that is kept as a reminder of the inevitability of death, such as a skull. According to Gore, the album’s title was set before Fletcher died.

“After Fletch’s passing, we decided to continue as we’re sure this is what he would have wanted,” the guitarist and keyboardist said, “and that has really given the project an extra level of meaning.

“It sounds very morbid, but I think you can look at it very positively as well,” he continued. “In that [you should] live each day to the max. I think that’s how we like to interpret it too.”

When is ‘Memento Mori’ released?

The follow-up to 2017’s ‘Spirit,’ ‘Memento Mori,’ is slated to be released in Spring 2023 via Columbia Records, though a precise release date has yet to be announced.

Where will they play it live?

In addition to finishing the album, the band are figuring out how to perform live without one of its founding members, and also revealed that they will embark on their first tour in five years in support of the record in 2023.

“We’re not going to replace Fletch; there’s no reason to replace Fletch,” Gahan told Rolling Stone. “That would be impossible. There was only one Fletch, that’s for sure.”

Gahan and Gore are collaborating with multi-instrumentalist Peter Gordeno and drummer Christian Eigner, both of whom have been touring members of Depeche Mode since the late 1990s, on how to perform the new songs live.

The European leg of the tour includes a 17 June concert at Twickenham Stadium in London, as well as stops in Berlin, Paris and Milan.

Depeche Mode’s ‘Memento Mori’ world tour will take place between March and August of 2023. At the time of writing, just one UK date has been announced, at Twickenham Stadium on 17 June 2023.

The rest of the band’s European tour dates are as follows:

• 16 May – Amsterdam, NL Ziggo Dome
• 20 May – Antwerp, BE Sportpaleis Antwerpen
• 23 May – Stockholm, SE Friends Arena
• 26 May – Leipzig, DE Leipziger Festwiese
• 28 May – Bratislava, SK Národný Futbalový Štadión
• 31 May – Bordeaux, FR Matmut Atlantique
• 02 June – Barcelona, ES Primavera Sound Festival
• 04 June – Dusseldorf, DE Merkur Spiel-Arena
• 06 June – Dusseldorf, DE Merkur Spiel-Arena
• 09 June – Madrid, ES Primavera Sound Festival
• 11 June – Bern, CH Stadion Wankdorf
• 14 June – Dublin, IE Malahide Castle
• 17 June – London, UK Twickenham Stadium
• 20 June – Munich, DE Olympiastadion
• 22 June – Lille, FR Stade Pierre Mauroy
• 24 June – Paris, FR Stade de France
• 27 June – Copenhagen, DK Parken
• 29 June – Frankfurt, DE Deutsche Bank Park
• 04 July – Lyon, FR Groupama Stadium
• 07 July – Berlin, DE Olympiastadion
• 12 July – Rome, IT Stadio Olympico
• 14 July – Milan, IT San Siro
• 16 July – Bologna, IT Stadio Renato Dall’Ara
• 21 July – Klagenfurt, AT Wörthersee Stadion
• 23 July – Zagreb, HR Arena Zagreb
• 26 July – Bucharest, RO Arena Națională
• 28 July – Budapest, HU Puskás Aréna
• 30 July – Prague, CZ Letňany Airport
• 02 August – Warsaw, PL PGE Narodowy
• 06 August – Tallinn, EE Tallinna Lauluväljak
• 08 August – Helsinki, FI Kaisaniemen Puisto
• 11 August – Oslo, NO Telenor Arena

Tickets go on general sale at 10am this Friday (7 October). You can get them through TicketMaster or Live Nation.