Danse Macabre, released on Friday (October 27), comes as the sixteenth studio album from Duran Duran.
The album was conceptually inspired by the band’s Las Vegas performance last Halloween, which made use of “glorious gothic visuals” and “a dark soundtrack of horror and humour” to seize the occasion.
The “crazy Halloween party” of Danse Macabre was heralded in August by the release of the title track and its music video.
This latest LP of Duran Duran’s, half-comprised of covers, sees the English new wavers interpret some of the eerier offerings of popular music; “Paint It Black”, “Spellbound”, “Bury a Friend”, “Ghost Town”, “Supernature”, and “Psycho Killer” all trick-or-treat together in Duran Duran group costume, accompanied even by a mash-up of the band’s own “Lonely in Your Nightmare” with Rick James’ “Super Freak” (“Super Lonely Freak”).
The cover of Talking Heads’ “Psycho Killer” features Victoria De Angelis of Italian rock group Måneskin, and revered soul guitarist Nile Rodgers features on the original track “Black Moonlight”.
Former members Andy Taylor and Warren Cuccurullo also provide guitars for Danse Macabre, the band’s first album to feature both members.
Danse Macabre follows a triumphant couple of years for Duran Duran; the band closed the Commonwealth Games last August in their native Birmingham, were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame in November, and have headlined sold-out shows across North America on their FUTURE PAST tour, having “left the thousands of passionate fans clamouring for more” (Mercury News).
Domestically, Duran Duran have been touted as “national treasures” (The Spectator) and “royalty” (The Times); “decadent and bombastic” (The Telegraph) in recent touring.
“Emotion, style, and attitude have always been at the heart of Duran Duran’s DNA,” says keyboardist Nick Rhodes, “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 that in this project.”
Danse Macabre is out now via Tape Modern for BMG with artwork featuring images adapted from a collection of authentic vintage séance photos sourced by Nick Rhodes at auction.
It is available on Black 2LP and CD, with a limited-edition Translucent Galaxy 2LP. The album is also available on high res Blu-ray audio.
Words By Harrison Jones
