Heading up this week’s six stormers is Memento Mori, the 15th studio album from Depeche Mode and its first as a two-piece lineup of Dave Gahan and Martin Gore, following co-founder Andrew ‘Fletch’ Fletcher’s tragic passing in 2022. Produced by James Ford with additional production work by Marta Salogni, Memento Mori’s gestation took place during the early stages of the Covid pandemic, resulting in themes inspired directly by that period. The album’s 12 tracks chart a vast expanse of moods and textures, from its ominous opening to its final resolution, running the gamut from paranoia and obsession to catharsis and joy, and hitting myriad points between.
Gettin’ Old is the fourth album from Luke Combs, following 2022’s Growin’ Up, 2019’s 3-times platinum What You See Is What You Get and his 4-times platinum debut, This One’s For You. Across these eighteen tracks Combs continues to establish himself as one of country music’s most authentic and powerful voices as he reaches new lyrical depths exploring themes of family, legacy, love and personal growth.
To celebrate the 50th anniversary of The Dark Side Of The Moon, one of the most iconic and influential albums ever, comes the first official standalone release of Pink Floyd’s legendary performance of the full album at Wembley as recorded by the BBC. The cover design is by Aubrey Powell at Hipgnosis and Peter Curzon at Storm Studios, and features the original 1973 line-drawn cover artwork by George Hardie.
While the Grammy-winning Nickel Creek – the trio of singer-songwriter-multi-instrumentalists Sara Watkins (fiddle), Sean Watkins (guitar) and Chris Thile (mandolin) – had collaborated sporadically since 2014’s A Dotted Line, a 2020 interview pegged to the twentieth anniversary of Nickel Creek’s debut album ignited a spark. “It was fun to have a reason to wax nostalgic about some stuff that we’d done,” says Thile. “And then when we got together, it was just so clear, ‘Oh, yeah, we’ve got some new music to make.’” They certainly did, and Celebrants is the result.
Anticipation for So Much (For) Stardust started brewing in November, after a mysterious ad appeared in the Chicago Tribune, and continued building with multiple teaser sites in December, including an animated video titled ‘A Claymation Fall Out Boy Celebration’ that included a quick audio preview of ‘Love From The Other Side’ for eagle-eared fans. So Much (For) Stardust is Fall Out Boy’s first new studio album since 2018’s MANIA, which garnered a Grammy nomination for Best Rock Album and marked their third consecutive and fourth overall #1 album in the US and their third consecutive #2 album in the UK.
Our release of the week is Did You Know That There’s A Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd, the ninth studio album from acclaimed singer-songwriter Lana Del Rey, which comprises 16 tracks and interludes featuring guests including Father John Misty, Tommy Genesis, Jon Batiste, Bleachers and more. It follows the prolific artist’s 2021 albums Chemtrails Over The Country Club and Blue Banisters.
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