My Favourite Stranger Explained

My Favourite Stranger
Cover:My-favourite-stranger-DM.jpg
Type:single
Artist:Depeche Mode
Album:Memento Mori
Released:[1]
Recorded:2022
Genre:Alternative rock
Length:3:55
Label:Columbia
Producer:James Ford
Prev Title:Speak to Me
Prev Year:2023
Prev Version:HI-LO Remix
Next Title:Before We Drown
Next Year:2024

"My Favourite Stranger" is a song by English electronic music band Depeche Mode, released on 20 October 2023 as the fifth single from their fifteenth studio album, Memento Mori.[2] [3]

Background

This is one of four tracks on the album written by Martin Gore along with Richard Butler of the Psychedelic Furs. Dave Gahan said that "My Favourite Stranger" is "about having a shadow, someone who follows you around the clock and tells you things. Do you listen to the lie or to the truth? A fun and a little risky song. With music you need to be transported to different places, sometimes it's places that are right in front of your eyes, other times it's open spaces." He also said "this is a direct song, like Suicide's Alan Vega, it has a New York '70s punk vibe."[4]

In his interview for NME Gore explained, "I've never written with anyone outside of the band in our history... Richard reached out to me around April 2020, just texting to say 'We should write some songs together'. I asked for ideas and he sent me a few lines, so I put those to music and we started sending them back and forth. We ended up writing seven songs. We didn't like the first one, but the other six were so great that I thought it would be a bit of a waste to put them out as a side-project. They just wouldn't get the same sort of exposure as they would if they were put out by Depeche."[5]

Music video

On 21 September 2023, an official music video was released for the song directed by Anton Corbijn.[6]

Shot entirely in black and white, the video shows a man wandering through the forest and the streets of a city. Upon arriving to his dwelling, the person turns out to be a woman once the hat and fake mustache are removed.[7]

Charts

Chart (2023–2024)! scope="col"
Peak
position
UK Singles Sales (OCC)[8] 19

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Wilkinson . Juan Ignacio R. . 23 October 2023 . Boris Brejcha remixes Depeche Mode's 'My Favourite Stranger' . Electronic Groove . 28 October 2023.
  2. Web site: Millar . Mark . 20 October 2023 . DEPECHE MODE announces the launch of the 'Memento Mori' White Label Remix Series . 28 October 2023 . XS Noize.
  3. Web site: 20 October 2023 . Boris Brejcha Dropped A Remix of "My Favorite Stranger" By The Legendary Depeche Mode . . 28 October 2023.
  4. Web site: Laffranchi . Di Andrea . Depeche Ricordati che devi vivere Mode . . . 1 November 2023 . it . 19 March 2023.
  5. Web site: Trendell . Andrew . 21 March 2023 . Depeche Mode on what The Psychedelic Furs' Richard Butler brought to 'Memento Mori' . . 28 October 2023.
  6. Web site: 21 September 2023 . My Favourite Stranger (Official Video) . 27 September 2023 . YouTube.
  7. Web site: Teeple . Alice . 21 September 2023 . A Wanderer in Disguise — Depeche Mode Debut Video for "My Favourite Stranger" . Post-Punk.com . 28 October 2023.
  8. Web site: Official Singles Sales Chart Top 100 . 11 February 2023 . Official Charts Company. 25 October 2023.