Duran Duran celebrate 40 years with Future Past, their new album featuring songs produced by DJ and composer behind The Killers, Blondie and Kylie Minogue
- British band Duran Duran are celebrating 40 years since their debut in the most satisfying manner: with the release of their 15th studio album, Future Past
- ‘We want to lift people’s spirits and make them smile,’ says founding member and keyboardist Nick Rhodes. ‘And maybe think a little bit’
Solo artists who successfully pilot decades-long careers are impressive. But bands that survive despite having to navigate varying temperaments, clashing opinions and individual quirks are practically miraculous.
Duran Duran are celebrating 40 years since the release of their debut single, Planet Earth, a delectable introduction to the band and its foppish New Wave glory, in the most satisfying manner: with the release of their 15th studio album, Future Past.
“The fact that we have survived it and we’re still friends and can make records that are still contemporary says a lot about the individuals in the band,” says founding member and keyboardist Nick Rhodes.
“We still have that determination to be better than anyone else – which is of course subjective – but you have to have that will. It’s the sort of merger of all of our personalities to make that one person that is Duran Duran.”
The band is joined by Blur guitarist Graham Coxon for several of the 15 tracks on the album (touring guitarist Dom Brown will still “always be there”, Rhodes says); Coxon’s presence provided Duran Duran with an additional jolt in the studio.
“Having that element of live guitar in the room with us while we were writing brought back that Duran Duran sound of inventiveness and dance music,” Rhodes says. “Graham is just a sublime musician and so creative.”
Diehard Durannies will always yearn for another reunion with original guitarist Andy Taylor, who left the band in 1986 to work with John Taylor in rock and pop group The Power Station (Some Like it Hot) and focus on a solo career, and then returned for 2004’s Astronaut album and tour before exiting again. But Rhodes says while he “never says never in this life”, he doesn’t foresee another merger with the past.
“I feel very comfortable as the unit we are now,” Rhodes says. “In a way, Andy leaving gave us the latitude and space to be able to experiment more.
“The opportunities we have had not having a permanent guitarist has changed the way the band creates things. And from Andy’s point of view, he probably feels the same. I don’t think he enjoyed the pressure of the tour and the shows, even though he always played great.”
The crux of Future Past – including its title – finds Duran Duran embracing the sound they pioneered while glazing it with modern overtones.
Current single Anniversary, with its delectable bass line and chorus (and fizzy-fun video), is “the most self-reverential thing we’ve ever done”, Rhodes acknowledges.
“I suppose we’ve spent four decades trying to avoid doing the same thing … but this time, suddenly, we fell into it and thought, this sounds really good.”
Moroder is one of Rhodes’ heroes. The opportunity to work with the man renowned for his touch on the bulk of Donna Summer’s catalogue, as well as Irene Cara’s Flashdance … What a Feeling, Berlin’s Take My Breath Away and a trove of other hits, was enthralling.
Duran Duran are cautiously optimistic about taking the Future Past songs on the road in 2022 – likely summer – though as Rhodes notes, it’s been difficult for bands to get tour insurance because of the pandemic.
Even after four decades, the band’s intentions remain unchanged.
“We want to lift people’s spirits and make them smile,” Rhodes says. “And maybe think a little bit.”