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