DURAN DURAN
BLACK TO THE FUTURE
AS THEIR RECENT SINGLE ANNIVERSARY HINTED, IT’S 40 YEARS SINCE DURAN DURAN FIRST BEAMED ON TO PLANET EARTH. RATHER THAN CELEBRATE WITH A HITS TOUR, THEY’RE RELEASING A STUNNING NEW ALBUM, WHERE ALL FOUR WILD BOYS – AND NEW GUEST GRAHAM COXON – ARE AT THEIR PEAK. IN THE COMPLETE INSIDE STORY OF FUTURE PAST, THE BAND TELL CLASSIC POP HOW THEY’VE BEEN INSPIRED BY THEIR OLD 12" SINGLES, DR DISCO… AND A TELLING-OFF FROM SIMON LE BON’S DAUGHTER.
JOHN EARLS
when Duran Duran last spoke to Classic Pop in July 2019, just before a unique show for NASA to mark the 50th anniversary of the moon landings, Simon Le Bon teased us with one lyric from the new studio album the band were making:
“A voiceless crowd isn’t backing down.” Sure enough, the line features in Invisible, Duran Duran’s comeback single six years after the futuristic reboot of Paper Gods.
With typical Duran foresight, one of the first songs they wrote for their 15th album has taken on extra resonance as life reasserts itself after COVID.
“Invisible was written way before the pandemic,” Nick Rhodes explains, backstage in his dressing room before a TV show in Hamburg. “When we’ve been locked away inside for 10 months, we’re all feeling somewhat more invisible at this point. Invisible has become much more poignant.”
Simon is happy people feel the track has gained new meaning, but with typical pragmatism, he downplays any notion he was able to foresee a global crisis. “The experience the whole world has been through sheds Invisible in a very different light to the one it was first illuminated by in 2019,” he considers. “But I’ve always been a very firm believer that it’s how audiences interpret your songs that is important, not what the songwriter first intended. We probably wouldn’t have picked Invisible as this record’s first single.
But when it was suggested to us, we looked at Invisible again and went, ‘They’ve got a point!’ The song acknowledges where we are in life, which is important. The first release from any album has to say, ‘Here we are, we’re back! And this is what we’re like now!’”
What Duran Duran are like in 2021 is, generally, confident and relaxed. Quite right, too. As you may have heard by now, Future Past is an absolute classic – the mighty rhythm section of John and Roger Taylor more to the fore than at any point since Duran’s 2001 reunion, on a record where all four members do their thing with a power and belief in pop music you rarely get from bands of their vintage. Recording the album at the tiny Assault & Battery studios – owned by veteran producers Alan Moulder and Flood – in Willesden Green, North London, proved key. “That place is old-school,” laughs John, over a yoghurt and fruit breakfast at home via Zoom. “It’s basically a small room with nothing. It’s the type of studio we started out in.”
Blur guitarist Graham Coxon plays on Duran’s new record
© Getty
Returning to Duran’s roots is key to the sound of Future Past. Their new producer Erol Alkan –a Londoner who has produced The Killers and Ride, as well as an acclaimed DJ – set out to capture the spirit of Duran’s earliest dance music. Roger reveals: “As a DJ, Erol loves playing Duran’s original 12" singles. They were very organically produced, as me and John had to go in to record those extended versions from start to finish. You couldn’t edit drums then, so I’d have to play for 10 minutes straight. That gave you a very cool and natural sound, which was also slightly imperfect. Erol wanted to go back to that.”
The drummer admits Duran needed Erol to have a vision the band could get behind. “A producer has to be really strong working with Duran Duran,” laughs Roger. “We all think we know how to do this. Everybody has their own idea of how the music should sound. We always need a captain at the helm to guide the ship. If someone from the outside doesn’t have an overall concept for the sound, we can get diverted into all kinds of different directions. That might still be a good album, but it wouldn’t have the direction we’ve achieved on Future Past.” Returning to a more classic Duran sound, it helps that the 80s are back in fashion, as Nick explains: “This album is 80s in parts, while also sounding contemporary. It feels like certain 80s elements are back again. There’s a definite 80s influence in The Weeknd, and you can hear it in pop like Taylor Swift or Dua Lipa. It felt right to have those elements for us. As in fashion, these things go around. Sometimes a certain neckline or outfit length feels better, but nobody is quite sure who’s decided that or why.”