Duran Duran’s ‘spontaneous’ new project starts to take shape

Duran Duran’s latest studio effort, described as a Halloween-themed project, is taking shape.

Members of the band say the project will include old and new Duran songs, as well as covers, according to recent media interviews. The idea for the project was sparked by the band’s successful show last Halloween.

In Las Vegas on Oct. 31, the Durans donned costumes and played songs a bit on the spooky side, including “Night Boat,” “Secret Oktober,” and a medley of “Lonely In Your Nightmare” and “Super Freak.” The band has since added the latter to its set list.

Duran also played covers at the show, including the Talking Heads’ “Psycho Killer” and Siouxsie and the Banshees’ “Spellbound.” In a short interview on Duran Duran Future Past Radio, Nick Rhodes revealed that the band has recorded a version of “Spellbound” that would be out in a bit. Guitarist Andy Taylor, who features on the project, has called the Siouxie cover “particularly great.”

Other covers reportedly in the mix: the Rolling Stones’ “Paint It Black,” The Specials’ “Ghost Town,” and Cerrone’s “Supernature.”

Also on the band’s Sirius XM channel, producer Nile Rodgers said he and Duran had just wrote a couple of songs together. In addition, the band spent time in the studio with “Paper Gods” producer Mr. Hudson, John Taylor says. The new songs, three in total, may or may not make the finished product, according to Taylor.

The project is “spontaneous,” Simon Le Bon told the NME, and the Halloween theme behind the new music is one that the singer says he had to be talked into.

Le Bon also spoke about his working relationship with Andy Taylor. Le Bon traveled to Ibiza this year to work with the guitarist, who has Stage 4 cancer. “Music is the king” in the room when the two are together, Le Bon said.

The fact that the band booked studio time before heading out on a summer tour bodes well for a planned Halloween 2023 release—though the specter of “Durantime” always looms.

The band’s North American tour kicks off this week in California with a performance at BottleRock Napa Valley and runs through September. Highlights along the way include two nights at Red Rocks in Morrison, Colorado, and a closing show at Forest Hills Stadium in New York.

At top: Le Bon wore a “Queen Sioux” T-shirt onstage in Dallas last year. Now, Duran Duran has recorded a cover of a Siouxsie and the Banshees song.

Photo by Christopher Windle

Duran Duran Future Past Radio takes Sirius XM by storm

Duran Duran added yet another accolade to its collection with the debut of a radio channel dedicated solely to the band on Sirius XM.

Duran Duran Future Past Radio has been streaming on the Sirius app for a couple of weeks, but it was officially added to the satellite radio airwaves on May 18.

In honor of the channel’s first day on the air, Duran producer and superfan Nile Rodgers staged a celeb fan takeover. Rodgers, who described himself as “like the other dude in Duran Duran,” got the party started by playing Duran favorites and sharing stories from his more than 40 years as a friend of the band.

The streaming channel has been playing a slew of Duran fan favorites and rarities, songs as varied as “Winter Marches On” (played by its producer, Rodgers), “Ball of Confusion,” and even “Fragment” (a “Pop Trash” instrumental). Duran members’ faves are played as well; an atmospheric remix of Tame Impala’s “Is It True” worked particularly well before Duran’s own “Mediterranea.” Of course, all of the band’s biggest hits are represented, too.

Meantime, a grassroots campaign is brewing to make Future Past Radio a permanent fixture on Sirius. If you’re a Sirius subscriber, you can send feedback directly via the app. 

As one longtime Duranie says, “Let’s do a RRHOF fan vote and tell Sirius to make Future Past Radio permanent.” Last year, Duranies made a huge difference by scoring Duran a decisive first-place finish in the fan poll and helping propel the band into the Rock and Rock Hall of Fame.

So send your positive feedback via the app or the link here!