Depeche Mode Finally Drops New Single ‘Ghosts Again,’ Reveals Album Release Date

Depeche Mode unveiled their new single “Ghosts Again” on Thursday (Feb. 9) along with the track’s accompanying music video and new album Memento Mori‘s release date.

In the stark visual directed by Anton Corbijn, Dave Gahan and Martin Gore wield matching walking sticks topped with chrome-plated skulls before sitting down on an urban rooftop to face off in a game of chess.

“Wasted feelings, broken meanings/ Time is fleeting, see what it brings/ Hellos, goodbyes, a thousand midnights/ Lost in sleepless lullabies/ Heaven’s dreaming/ Thoughtless thoughts, my friends,” Gahan sings before his bandmate swoops in to deliver the final lyric of the chorus: “We know we’ll be ghosts again.”

“To me, ‘Ghosts Again’ just captures this perfect balance of melancholy and joy,” Gahan said in a statement. Added Gore, “It’s not often that we record a song that I just don’t get sick of listening to – I’m excited to be able to share it.”

The reflective, mid-tempo jam precedes the duo’s upcoming 15th studio album, Memento Mori, which is set to be released March 24 via Columbia Records. The LP will be the band’s first full-length since 2017’s Spirit, as well as the first since the passing of keyboardist and co-founder Andy Fletcher in May 2022.

The rollout for “Ghosts Again” was fraught with controversy among Depeche Mode’s fanbase. It all started with a countdown clock on the band’s social media accounts and website, seemingly pointing to the track’s release last Friday (Feb. 3), but instead was revealed that eager listeners would have to wait nearly another full week for the song’s grand unveiling.

Watch the stark music video for Depeche Mode’s “Ghosts Again” below.