Depeche Mode has tackled The Seventh Seal as Scott Walker and Ingmar Bergman did decades ago, and now the Brit-born band turn their attention to themselves. Heavy, muffled thumps give this Memento Mori single real presence and harsh beginnings. Fearless electronics slide through My Cosmos Is Mine, and the result is another challenging experimentation that keeps the Martin L. Gore and Dave Gahan duo pushing on through. Downtempo, guttural screeches of electronic static keep them going as they reflect on the well-ordered whole, attempting as they can to knock it back and inflict it onto their latest work. It works well, My Cosmos Is Mine is a fascinating creation. Techno and electronic-clad tracks do not need to be these synth-ready explosions, their sincerity in sinister stylings is crucial here.
Not quite as present and overwhelming as the return track Ghosts Again, but a nice companion piece that will shore up the singles promoting Memento Mori well enough. Repetitive vocalisations are the downfall for Gore and Gahan here, not because they offer little in the way of self-reflection, but because the sparse variety detracts from the darker intonations founded on those jittering tech explosions. It is enough to make an ardent internet gremlin fear the static shockwaves. Whining and grinding through as an instrumental section, My Cosmos Is Mine does extremely well to channel darker structures and soon that repetitive vocalisation makes sense. Disregard the final rest, there never was any anyway, Gore appears to say.
There surely is no final rest either considering Depeche mode, thankfully, continue on making quality music. My Cosmos Is Mine is enough of a change to warrant their continued push forward as creatives who could very easily have wrapped it up and began their legacy tour. But there is something deeper in this work, something that strikes through with the days of Violator firmly intact. It is not a return to that work, far from it, but My Cosmos Is Mine and fellow single Ghosts Again appear to be on that level, working away and grinding through the darker charms of unhinged and ever-so-slightly disconnected experiences of the self and whole. Gore and Gahan make for a well-mused duo as expected, but it is their work here that presents a shimmering, sickening change of pace. It is well-intended, a tad sloppy, but pushes Depeche Mode in the right direction.
A reference to Walker and the Bergman-like charms of Ghosts Again stretches further. Depeche Mode found themselves at a crossroads and head down a new, darker path. Their work on My Cosmos Is Mine is similar in tone and rests on decisions that chart what the baroque legend did during his pivot on Tilt. Brooding moments of self-reflection, an aggrandization that was deserved, justified and rewarded, all spilling over onto a track that pieces itself together delicately. Contemplation of this variety is reserved for those with longevity, and while My Cosmos Is Mine may not be the strongest piece, there is no doubt of its importance to the upcoming Memento Mori. It is a building block, not a standalone triumph, but both are as important in equal measure.
