Duran Duran have stitched together a collection of new songs, themed covers, and re-imagined versions of their older music in this exciting, 13-track album. The band, now made up of Simon Le Bon, Nick Rhodes, John Taylor and Roger Taylor, have teamed up with producer, Mr Hudson to create their most ambitious and unexpected album yet.

Keyboardist, Nick Rhodes spoke about the album’s conceptions, stating, “The song ‘Danse Macabre’ celebrates the joy and madness of Halloween. It is the title track of our forthcoming album… The idea was born out of a show we played in Las Vegas on October 31st, 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.”

The band’s legendary status has allowed them to collaborate with some of music’s newest and oldest talents. Long time collaborator, producer and guitarist, Nile Rogers, features on the album with the record ‘Black Moonlight‘.

In an interview with Duran Duran, Nile Rogers said, “The great thing about working with Duran Duran is that I’ve been there really almost from the beginning. I’ve been able to see that artistic arc, so I always say to myself ‘How do I take that next step?’“.

A relatively new face to the music scene, but one that has packed a punch, is Victoria de Angelis of Italian modern rock band Måneskin, who features as the bassist on Duran Duran’s cover of Talking Head’s ‘Psycho Killer‘. The unlikely bass duo of John Taylor and Victoria de Angelis has breathed new life into the Talking Heads classic.

“I’m so grateful and honoured,” Victoria stated in an Instagram post, “It was so much fun recording together with John and he was so sweet to me and encouraged me to express myself and play it my own way.”

Not only have Duran Duran collaborated with old and new, but they have also chosen to cover rock classics and gothic modern pop hits. Heard on the album is The Rolling Stones’ ‘Paint It, Black’ and Billie Eilish’s gothic anthem, ‘bury a friend’.

Adding to his previous comments, Nick Rhodes said, “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.”

You can purchase or stream the album here.

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

Duran Duran Announce Charity Concert In Support Of Former Band Member Andy Taylor

Billie Eilish Announces Last Minute Surprise Show In London After Reading And Leeds Headlining Performances

The Rolling Stones Seemingly Tease New Album With Advert In Hackney Local Newspaper

Earlier this month, Eurovision stars Måneskin announced that due to “scheduling conflicts” they had to cancel their appearance at the festival. “We love and miss the UK and all of our beloved UK fans and we’re absolutely gutted to no longer be able to play these shows,” they wrote in a post on their social media. The festival organisers then followed up by posting “We are saddened to hear that Jack Harlow and Måneskin have decided to perform at an award show the same weekend they were confirmed to play Reading and Leeds,” on their Instagram story.

This blow came after headliners Rage Against The Machine pulled out due to frontman Zack de la Rocha’s leg injury. A statement on Twitter was released saying: “Per medical guidance, Zack de la Rocha has been advised that the August and September 2022 UK and European leg of the Rage Against The Machine tour cannot proceed. It is with great disappoint that we announce this cancellation.” Soon after, The 1975 were announced as their replacement. This will mark their second appearance as headliners after their 2019 set. 

@OfficialRandL
Its not easy to find a headline festival act in short period of time but the replacement you have are not on the scale of RATM and are not even of the same genre of music. If you are not offering refund for sunday ticket holders that is absolutely unacceptable.

— Ryan Arthurton (@RyanArt9119) August 12, 2022

The changes to the line up have garnered mixed responses from ticket holders with one Twitter user describing The 1975 as a “downgrade”  and another saying that The 1975 were “not even of the same genre of music”.  The festivals’ refund policy states money can only be returned for a “material alteration which, in Festival Republic’s opinion, makes the event materially different to the event that ticket purchasers expected”, but it also mentions that “changes to the line-up” or “changes to a band” does not make consumers entitled to a refund. 

The announcement of the latest additions, Charlie XCX and AJ Tracey has also got some festival-goers feeling let down with on saying Reading and Leeds has “lost its identity” and another asking why there wasn’t a rockbound replacing Måneskin. A lot of the disappointment seems to be from those who had booked tickets to see bands more associated with the rock and indie genre; something which Reading and Leeds has been synonymous with since its inception. 

On August 9^th, Måneskin released a statement explaining, “We are sad to announce that unfortunately due to unforeseen scheduling conflicts, we are no longer able to perform at Readings & Leeds festival this year. We love and miss the UK and all of our beloved UK fans and we’re absolutely gutted to no longer be able to play these shows.” Before concluding, “We’re really excited for the year to come and want to thank you for your support and patience, we’ll hopefully be back in the UK soon and we can’t wait to see you.” It seems like they were almost hoping we’d forgotten about this, to be honest. R+L then issued the above statement yesterday showing their disappointment. Harlow is yet to comment on the situation, but at this point, it basically speaks for itself.

Only 2 days into their rescheduled 2020 tour, Rage Against The Machine frontman, Zac de la Rocha sustained an injury on his leg at a show in Chicago. The band continued with Rocha performing mostly sat down, but now it has been announced that they will be cancelling their UK and EU leg of the tour to follow ‘medical guidance. Their headline slot at Reading and Leeds Festival fell within the cancelled dates, so yesterday the festival announced the new Sunday headliner. The 1975.

Statement from @RATM pic.twitter.com/urPCtGpYd6

— Rage Against The Machine ★ (@RATM) August 11, 2022

Matty Healey and co. are currently in the leadup to the release of their 5^th LP, Being Funny In A Foreign Language, you can pre-order the album here. The announcement for their appearance at Reading and Leeds Festival comes together with a lengthy US tour set to take place in November. This, paired with 2 appearances at Japan’s Summer Sonic Festival, ends The 1975’s known tour dates. But that being said, we can essentially guarantee an announcement of a UK tour coming soon.

Eurovision… always a tricky thing to talk about, and yet everyone seems to have an opinion. Regardless of whether you think it’s all a bunch of overly earnest schlock, or a genuinely heart-warming moment of unity and comfort despite all of the world’s issues; it’s quite hard to take seriously. Which is why when something surfaces outside of the competition it still sounds like Eurovision. ABBA, for example – who doesn’t love ABBA – despite writing some of the best pop music of their era, still maintained the glossy, international relations aesthetic that launched them in the first place. It’s possible that Måneskin are aware of this, and that was some of the influence for their single last year, ‘MAMMAMIA’. I like to hope they have this level of self-awareness anyway.

SUPERMODEL
New single. Out on May 13th. Pre-save it now: https://t.co/CCNLbS2hS7. pic.twitter.com/jdo8e7CHht

— MåneskinOfficial (@thisismaneskin) May 4, 2022

Aside from the new single, the band are also set to begin their massive US, EU, and UK tour soon. In a video on their socials, the band explained how the tour should play out after months of rescheduling, “The Loud Kids Get Louder tour will actually see our very first headline tour in North America, All our rescheduled European indoor dates have been upgraded due to demand + we’ve added some new ones for all of you who missed the chance to get their tickets.”

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A post shared by Måneskin (@maneskinofficial)

“We really want to thank you for being so understanding during this long period as we got this in place. We know you’ve been waiting patiently for this announcement, and we feel very grateful towards all our beloved fans for your love, support and understanding. We missed you and we missed performing, and we cannot wait to play for you all again!” See here for full ticket information.

While on the subject of Eurovision, the UK entrant, TikTok sensation Sam Ryder, wowed fans during the first rehearsals for the competition that is set to go ahead next Saturday (May 14^th). You can check out a video of the performance below, but despite the fact that people seem to think this is our best chance in years to actually score some points, the win is pretty much guaranteed for Ukraine. While this is a music competition, the politics are undeniable, and offering Ukraine the opportunity to make themselves heard during these times is a probability that I think most countries will allow for.

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A post shared by Deezer (@deezer)

Deezer’s Global VP of Artist Relations, Nigel Harding as provided the following statement concerning the revelation, “It’s fantastic to see so many homegrown artists like Ed Sheeran and Dua Lipa continue to shine both internationally and here in the UK. What really stands out is the enduring appeal of older material. The Weeknd’s ‘Blinding Lights’ and Tones and I’s ‘Dance Monkey’, both continue to dominate the charts more than 18 months after release. And it’s remarkable that Eminem remains as popular now as he was two decades ago”

The category of the top artist has been awarded to British singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran. The “Shivers” singer topped the list as the number one streamed artist.  Second and third places were taken by American rapper Eminem and The Weeknd. Following the pair was Dua Lipa, the British hitmaker who came in fourth as the service’s most-streamed artist. Fellow British act, Little Mix, also placed within the top 10 and closed off the list.

Dua Lipa not only charted within the top artist list but was also crowned as the top female artist within the streaming service. The “Don’t Start Now” singer beat out big names such as Taylor Swift and Ariana Grande to be the most streamed female artist. Little Mix also made an appearance within the top five and was announced as the fourth most female act streamed in 2021. The “Shout Out To My Ex” girl group also beat out American artists to reach the high position, Lady Gaga, Billie Elish and Rihanna charted behind Little Mix in streams.

Within the category for Top Track, Canadian artist The Weeknd won with his 2019 track “Blinding Lights”. The number one single was released from the 31-year-old singer’s fourth studio album After Hours. “Dance Money” by Tones and I placed in second place and was followed by “Bad Habits” by Ed Sheeran which charted at number three. British singer Harry Styles closed the top ten list with his single “Watermelon Sugar”.

The most streamed album was awarded to Olivia Rodrigo for her debut album Sour. The Weeknd also featured within this list, the singer’s double-platinum album After Hours followed in second place. Ed Sheeran’s 2021 album Divide was confirmed as the third most-streamed album within Deezer.

The platform awarded Ed Sheeran with another win; the singer won the Top Karaoke Song award with his number one single “Bad Habits”. Eurovision winners Måneskin filled both the second and third positions, the Italian rockers closed the top three with tracks “Beggin” and “I Wanna Be Your Slave”. American rapper Lil Nas X also charted twice in the category, “Industry Baby” landed at number six and “Montero (Call Me By Your Name)” placed at number ten.

The announcement also consisted of further categories including Top Playlist, Top Deezer Originals song and Top Podcast. To accompany the list of the service’s most listened to content Deezer has also created a Best of 2021 channel for its users to enjoy.

See you tonight at the O2 Academy Islington, London, h 7 pm ☆ can’t wait ☆

More tickets available here: https://t.co/UaQmYmRIdj pic.twitter.com/2h2xHK2YO6

— MåneskinOfficial (@thisismaneskin) October 20, 2021

The Italian band Måneskin comprises Victoria (bass), Damiano (lead singer), Thomas (guitar) and Ethan (drums). Their unique, distorted sound and raw energy brought them a victory at this years Eurovision contest in March.
Måneskin “are bringing rock’n’roll back to the top of international charts with a contemporary twist”.
Speaking to press last month, frontman Damiano David said: “We’re already working on new music and we have a few songs in our pockets, but like everything we do we want to do it properly and be 100 per cent satisfied with what we’re doing. We’re going to take our time: there’s no rush.”
Last week the band dropped a new video for the track “MAMMAMIA”. Speaking about the release at a press conference at Berlin’s SO36 Club, David commented: “We only had a few days to go to the studio and write new music but fortunately this song came out in a few hours – that’s why we felt like it was going to be a banger for us“.

The track has been written after the band received lots of attention following the Eurovision win. “A lot of the time, we did something that we thought was great but people criticised it. I wanted to translate that into the lyrics, because it happens a lot – maybe you’re doing something that you feel is great, but people don’t understand it and make bad judgements and bad comments about it. I wanted to make fun of that situation” – said David.

Bassist Victoria de Angelis added: “We didn’t take it too seriously. It’s a very silly, careless song and we’ve never done something like that before. It came together very naturally. We just tried to have fun and enjoy it, because [it was written] in a moment where we were experiencing a lot of things.” You can watch the fun video for “MAMMAMIA” below.

Since the big win, Måneskin which means ‘moonlight’ in Danish, managed to get two UK Top 10 hits with “I Wanna Be Your Slave” reaching No5 and “Beggin” reaching No6.
Next year Måneskin heads over to UK and Europe for the 2022 Tour. Apparently, most of the dates are now sold out with O2 Academy Brixton tickets vanished within 25 minutes. See full tour details below and ticket info here.

6/02/2022 – O2 Academy Brixton, London
10/02 – Forest National, Brussels, Belgium
12/02 – Rockhal, Luxembourg
15/02 – Towar Hall, Warsaw, Poland
19/02 – Stadthalle, Vienna, Austria
21/02 – Le Zenith, Paris, France
24/02 – Halle 622, Zurich, Switzerland
26/02 – Verti Music Hall, Berlin, Germany
28/02 – Mala Sportovini Hala, Prague, Czech Republic

1/03 – Barba Negra, Budapest, Hungary
3/03 – AFAS Live, Amsterdam, Netherlands
7/03 – Stereo Plaza, Kiev, Ukraine
9/03 – Stadium Love, Moscow, Russia
11/03 – Tinkoff Arena, St Petersburg, Russia
13/03 – Saku Suurhall, Tallinn, Estonia
14/03 – Arena Riga, Riga, Latvia

An array of football anthems found themselves in the Top 100 this week due to the EURO 2020 games, further escalated by the final on Sunday. But amid the anthems, Ed Sheeran’s 2021 single ‘Bad Habits’ has extended its top billing.

This week marks the second week at number one for the ‘Shape of You’ singer, ‘Bad Habits’ was teased on popular app TikTok in late June of this year where the singer debuted the single’s horror-esque look. Within the video, the artist also gave fans a glimpse into the aesthetic of the new single’s video. The single, released on 25th June 2021 through Asylum Records is the lead single off the 30-year-old singer’s upcoming fifth album. The track also marks the artist’s first solo release from a studio album in four years.

The artist took to his Instagram page to post an acoustic version of the hit single.

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A post shared by Ed Sheeran (@teddysphotos)

The single has racked up an impressive sales count and has outsold its opening week, selling 103,000 chart sales including 10.9 million streams. The release outsold the six football anthems which entered the chart this week. Out of the newly introduced anthems, it is no surprise that ‘3 Lions’ by David Baddiel, The Lightning Seeds and Frank Skinner is the forerunner, climbing 18 spots to reach number 4.  Another popular football song that entered the charts this week, ‘Vindaloo’ by Fat Les came in at number 36, its highest position since 2010. The track was originally released in 1998 and was co-written by Alex James, bassist for Blur. Much like any other anthem, the track had a purpose, it was written and recorded for the 1998 FIFA World Cup. The charts appeared to follow a theme this week as the pub classic ‘Sweet Caroline’ re-entered the charts at number 48, originally released in 1971 by Neil Diamond, the song has been adopted in recent years as an English classic.

Sheeran’s newest single also outsold Olivia Rodrigo’s hugely popular release ‘Good 4 U’ this week, which remains at number 2. Stealing the bronze this week is ‘Heartbreak Anthem’ by Swedish DJ Galantis, David Guetta and Little Mix. The collaboration is Little Mix’s first release since the single ‘Confetti’ on 30th April 2021, the newly made trio took part in this year’s record store day with a release of 2021 album ‘Confetti’ on Vinyl with a new decorated cover. Just below ‘3 Lions’ at number five is ‘I Wanna Be Your Slave’ by Maneskin, the Italian band famously won this year’s Eurovision Song Contest with the song ‘Zitti e Buoni’.

Unlike the 1990s a specific football anthem has not been written for this year’s games, although we have seen plenty of old-school favourites get their second chance in the charts. Perhaps ‘Bad Habits’ by Ed Sheeran is the unofficial anthem for the EURO game. However, this weekend’s game may provide a different answer, depending on the result we may see an anthem at number one next week.

The video footage from the show’s telecast featured the Måneskin singer allegedly using drugs, the footage shows David leaning over the table with his head in a bowed position. Since the footage was released, various social media users have circulated rumours that the frontman was using cocaine. David has reputed these allegations, stating that he was picking up pieces of broken glass he found and not snorting cocaine, the frontman decided to end these rumours and speculation during the press conference after Måneskin’s victory. The band’s representatives have also announced that no illegal substances were present at the event.

The video has sparked controversy for the Italian performers as well as the Eurovision Song Contest itself with officials from the European Broadcasting Union, an organisation which provides an alliance of public service media operations, launching an investigation into the matter. The investigation also saw David himself volunteer to take a drugs test to proof his innocence.

The European Broadcasting Union have released a statement, confirming that the drug test in which David took was negative. “A drug test was also voluntarily undertaken earlier today by the lead singer of the band Måneskin which has returned a negative result seen by the EBU, No drug use took place in the green room and we consider the matter closed.“. They also added that the organisation was “alarmed that inaccurate speculation leading to fake news has overshadowed the spirit and the outcome of the event and unfairly affected the band”

The European Broadcasting Union have also backed up David’s statement that he was picking up broken glass, showed during the footage, The EBU have stated that evidence of broken glass was backstage at the event. “The band, their management, and head of delegation have informed us that no drugs were present in the green room, and explained that a glass was broken at their table and it was being cleared by the singer“

Måneskin beat out acts from all over Europe, this included UK’s entry and representative James Newman. Newman entered with famous competition with his song ‘Embers’, although the track was received with a somewhat positive attitude from the public, the song and performance earned the singer zero points, placing Newman in last place. The 35-year-old singer was set to represent the UK in the competition last year with the song, ‘My Last Breath’ but unfortunately the event was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

So far the UK has won five Eurovision Song Contests, the first win being in 1967 from Sandie Shaw with her song ‘Puppet on a String’. The next win was in 1969 with Lulu’s song ‘Boom Bang-a-Bang’, perhaps the most famous win came from Brotherhood of Man in 1976 with their celebrated song ‘Save Your Kisses For Me’. UK’s most recent triumph was in 1997 with the winning track ‘Love, Shine a Light’ performed by Katrina and the Waves.