The conception of the album was inspired by a show the band played last Halloween in Las Vegas in which the band played Halloween themed re-workings of rarities from the band as well as a variety of covers, much like the new album.

The covers on the album include ‘Bury a Friend’ by Billie Eilish, ‘Psycho Killer’ by Talking Heads, ‘Paint It Black’ by The Rolling Stones, ‘Ghost Town’ by The Specials, ‘Spellbound’ by Siouxsie and the Banshees and ‘Supernature’ by Cerrone. The album also features a guest list of Nile Rodgers, Victoria De Angelis from Maneskin as well as former guitarists Andy Taylor and Warren Cuccurullo.

The title track ‘Danse Macabre’ has already been released alongside the album announcement and is available on streaming services now.

Talking about the song, keyboardist Nick Rhodes said: “The song ‘Danse Macabre’ celebrates the joy and madness of Halloween. It is the title track of our forthcoming album, which gathers together an unusual mix of cover versions, reworked Duran Duran songs and several new compositions.

The idea was born out of a show we played in Las Vegas on 31st October 2022. We had decided to seize the moment to create a unique, special event… the temptation of using glorious gothic visuals set to a dark soundtrack of horror and humour was simply irresistible.”

He further adds: “That evening inspired us to explore further and to make an album, using Halloween as the key theme. The record metamorphosed through a pure, organic process, and not only was it made faster than anything since our debut album, it has also resulted in something none of us could have ever predicted. Emotion, mood, style and attitude have always been at the heart of Duran Duran’s DNA, we search for light in the darkness and darkness in the light, and I feel we have somehow managed to capture the essence of all of that in this project.”

The title track is one of three original tracks from the album alongside other new tracks ‘Black Moonlight’ and ‘Confession in the Afterlife’. Furthermore, long-term fans of the band will be thrilled to learn that the original band line-up of Nick Rhodes, Andy Taylor, Roger Taylor, John Taylor, and Simon Le Bon will be reunited for many tracks on the album.

Tracklist:

1. Nightboat
2. Black Moonlight
3. Love Voudou
4. Bury a Friend
5. Supernature
6. Danse Macabre
7. Secret Oktober 31st
8. Ghost Town
9. Paint It Black
10. Super Lonely Freak
11. Spellbound
12. Psycho Killer
13. Confession In The Afterlife

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Duran Duran’s newest single “More Joy” feat. @CHAIofficialJPN is out now! Head over to the link below for some extra happiness in your life https://t.co/iihkjbqXQZ pic.twitter.com/w5Xs8zXfvN

— Duran Duran (@duranduran) August 5, 2021

“We all agreed that it would sound really great with Japanese female voices on it, and that’s when Simon had the inspired idea to ask CHAI if they would possibly collaborate with us. To our joy they agreed, and the result most certainly brought an incredible new energy to the song. They are so special!” he added.
Watch and listen to “More Joy” below.

Meanwhile, the band’s frontman Simon LeBon agreed that the streaming services need to reform their payment models for the new artist to receive a better share.
Many emerging musicians get paid less than a penny per stream, which prevents them from persuading their music career full time.
LeBon said in an interview with NME: “Artists need to get paid properly for music that is streamed, that’s where the money should be coming from“.
“What do artists get? It’s like 0.2 of a penny per stream and that’s not just for artists, a percentage of that will go to the record company as well who then don’t give it to the artists, they’ll give it to the people they consider to be the most successful artists”.
Duran Duran’s new album will feature production from Giorgio Moroder and Mark Ronson and collaborations with Lykke Li. Pre-order “Future Past” here.

Duran Duran will hit the road this year, starting in Scarborough in September and ending in London next year. See full UK Tour Dates below:

17/09/21 – Open Air Theatre – Scarborough
19/09 – Isle Of Wight Festival – Newport
12/06/22 – St Annes Park – Dublin
01/07 – Lytham Festival – Lytham Saint Annes
10/07 – BST Hyde Park – London