With Major Syncs in ‘Cocaine Bear’ and ‘The Last of Us,’ Music Supervisors ‘Just Can’t Get Enough’ of Depeche Mode
variety.comRoy Trakin Depeche Mode, the pioneering ‘80s U.K. technopop band, has long had a strong following in Los Angeles — thanks to their exposure on local alternative stalwart KROQ — and now they’re proving a favorite of film and TV creative executives.
The group, consisting of co-founders Martin Gore and vocalist Dave Gahan after the death of keyboardist Andrew Fletcher in May 2022, is on a roll following its 2020 induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, where they were introduced by Charlize Theron, who called them “the soundtrack of my life.” Depeche Mode’s new Mute/Columbia Records album, “Memento Mori,” comes out March 24, their first since 2017’s “Spirit” and 15th overall, which will be followed by a year-long tour that launches March 23 in Sacramento and includes a show at L.A.’s Kia Forum on March 28 and four concluding area shows in December, two apiece at Kia and Crypto.com Arena.
Thanks to the current usage of “Just Can’t Get Enough” during the riotous ambulance-chase in “Cocaine Bear” and two syncs — including a cover version — of “Never Let Me Down Again” during two crucial episodes of HBO’s acclaimed video-game-based “The Last of Us,” Depeche Mode has become a darling of Hollywood music supervisors as well.
Julianne Jordan, co-founder of music supervision company Format Entertainment, and colleague Julia Michels, who worked with “Cocaine Bear” director Elizabeth Banks previously on “Pitch Perfect 2” and “Charlie’s Angels,” admitted the jovial use of “Just Can’t Get Enough” over the scene of a rampaging beast with a snout full of marching powder was the filmmakers’ plan from the very start. “That’s an example of the attitude we wanted to strike,” says Jordan. “If you had put serious score under that, it
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