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Review: Just when you thought all hope was lost along come The Strokes to fulfil the promises they made way, way back with their startling debut 'Is This It'. That was 17 years ago, and while the outfit have made plenty worthy of note in the years between then and now, we'd be surprised if we're the only ones thinking this latest is their best effort since that inaugural outing. Confident but also hungry, rather than bloated and lazy, there's plenty here that you won't be able to get away from in a hurry. 'Brooklyn Bridge To Chorus' might define the package best, delivering some powerful pop energy in an all-round homage to and critique of the 1980s, an era revisited again on 'Bad Decisions', which owes plenty to Billy Idol's Generation X classic, 'Dancing With Myself', with tracks like 'Why Are Sundays So Depressing' diverting to a synthdom route and 'Not The Same Anymore' throwing crooner styles into the mix. Exceptional stuff.

Review: This deluxe edition of Depeche Mode's latest album Memento Mori features a wealth of additional material, adding all manner of tangents in relation to the former trio's (now duo's) ultimate reflection on death. Centring on the mood of grief after the passing of the band's founding member Andrew 'Fletch' Fletcher, this is the first LP by a Depeche Mode made up of only two remaining members: Gahan and Gore. It hears a sadder, gloomier yet no less slowly euphoric sound, with lead singles like 'Ghosts Again' presenting a kind of conflicted melancholia.

Review: When vital bandmember Andrew Fletcher suddenly passed away at the start of the sessions for 'Memento Mori', even Dave Gahan and Martin Gore wondered aloud whether Depeche Mode would continue. Yet somehow, Gore and Gahan put their much-discussed differences aside, knuckled down and produced something fittingly special: an album that may well be the iconic outfit's most consistent and impressive body of work for decades. Naturally, darkness abounds, with opener 'My Cosmos Is Mine' - all evocative vocals, distorted electronic beats, dark sonic textures and mutilated choral vocal samples - setting the tone for a set that once again brilliantly blends dark synth-pop, gnarled guitars and the kind of lyrical melancholia that stays with you for days. Highlights are plentiful, with our picks including 'Ghosts Again', 'Soul With Me' and closing cut 'Speak To Me'.