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Nov 07, 2023 Web Exclusive By Lee Campbell

What started out as a couple of nights of freaky fun and frivolity in Las Vegas on Halloween in 2022, has culminated in Danse Macabre, Duran Duran’s 16th studio album. Perennial collaborator Joshua Blair produces with the legendary Bob Clearmountain mixing.

It’s always a difficult line to tread, releasing a record of which over half of its contents are cover versions. Not that the band cares very much for critics, they seemed to have learned a lesson from their experiences on the overtly mocked 1995 album Thank You, which consisted exclusively of songs that were not their own. Now on this latest project 28 years later, they have sprinkled some re-arranged Duran cult classics into the mix (“Nightboat,” “Secret Oktober,” “Lonely in Your Nightmare,” “Love Voudou”), alongwith three brand new songs.

Aside from the disappointingly ghoulish “Paint it Black” (The Rolling Stones) and “Ghost Town” (The Specials), on the whole, the other covers are strong interpretations. The band have openly said that the likes of “Spellbound” by Siouxsie & the Banshees and “Psycho Killer” (which features Måneskin’s Victoria De Angelis in a “bass-off” with John Taylor) by Talking Heads are sacred ground for Duran Duran. Those artists were and are at the heart of Duran’s inspiration, influence and sonic essence. In a recent Under the Radar interview, keyboardist Nick Rhodes described Talking Heads as “the greatest American band of their time.” The rhythmic interplay between the tandem bass of Taylor and De Angelis alongside Roger Taylor’s drumming is sublime.

The selection of Billie Eilish’s “Bury a Friend” is a strange one, and it feels mildly unconvincing. However, the logic is understandable in Duran Duran’s desire to remain relevant, tipping their caps to contemporary artists.

On first listen, “Black Moonlight,” which features Nile Rodgers and original Duran guitarist Andy Taylor feels a little flimsy, unable to cook up that secret sauce of shadowy melodies with an upbeat tempo. Although it does find its way under your skin with some fine hooks, it’s certainly the weaker of the new material. For the ingenious title track, Duran Duran have re-connected with writer/producer Mr Hudson, channeling the chemistry they unlocked on Paper Gods in 2015.

Perhaps the most celebrated song on the album with Duran Duran fans especially, will be “Secret Oktober 31st,” a re-imagination of the 1983 version. The track has a deep love within the Duran faithful. This version features lead guitar from Andy Taylor who never appeared on the original, which had to be quickly recorded by only Rhodes and Le Bon during the witching hours of the 1983 night, under pressure to find a B-side for the single, “Union of the Snake.” The track also contains haunting harmonies between Le Bon and Duran Duran’s own Derry Girl, Irish backing singer Rachael O’Connor, who has been touring with the band during their long-running FUTURE PAST tour.

“Super Lonely Freak” mashes up the adored Duran track “Lonely in your Nightmare” (from 1982’s Rio), with “Super Freak” by Rick James. It is an unexpected combination which they somehow pull off. “Love Voudou” from Duran Duran’s 1993 self-titled LP (which featured “Ordinary World”) sees the return of guitarist Warren Cuccurullo, who also plays on the title song “Danse Macabre.”

Ethereal closer “Confession in the Afterlife” melds the best sounds from 2023 Duran with their mid-1980s period—such as the atmospheric classic “Winter Marches On” (from 1986’s Notorious) and their So Red the Rose Arcadia project—into one of their finest pieces of work in recent years. It features touring guitarist Dom Brown, who has now been involved with the band since 2006. The song is all the proof you need that, even after 42 years, Duran Duran can create something magical and utterly compelling. (www.duranduran.com)

Author rating: 7.5/10