Rock n’ roll hall of famers Duran Duran have announced their 16th studio album, the Halloween-themed Danse Macabre, due for release on October 27th. The album will feature three brand new tracks, re-imagined deep cuts from the band and a selection of covers.
The conception of the album was inspired by a show the band played last Halloween in Las Vegas in which the band played Halloween themed re-workings of rarities from the band as well as a variety of covers, much like the new album.
The covers on the album include ‘Bury a Friend’ by Billie Eilish, ‘Psycho Killer’ by Talking Heads, ‘Paint It Black’ by The Rolling Stones, ‘Ghost Town’ by The Specials, ‘Spellbound’ by Siouxsie and the Banshees and ‘Supernature’ by Cerrone. The album also features a guest list of Nile Rodgers, Victoria De Angelis from Maneskin as well as former guitarists Andy Taylor and Warren Cuccurullo.
The title track ‘Danse Macabre’ has already been released alongside the album announcement and is available on streaming services now.
Talking about the song, keyboardist Nick Rhodes said: “The song ‘Danse Macabre’ celebrates the joy and madness of Halloween. It is the title track of our forthcoming album, which gathers together an unusual mix of cover versions, reworked Duran Duran songs and several new compositions.
The idea was born out of a show we played in Las Vegas on 31st October 2022. We had decided to seize the moment to create a unique, special event… the temptation of using glorious gothic visuals set to a dark soundtrack of horror and humour was simply irresistible.”
He further adds: “That evening inspired us to explore further and to make an album, using Halloween as the key theme. The record metamorphosed through a pure, organic process, and not only was it made faster than anything since our debut album, it has also resulted in something none of us could have ever predicted. Emotion, mood, style and attitude have always been at the heart of Duran Duran’s DNA, 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 of that in this project.”
The title track is one of three original tracks from the album alongside other new tracks ‘Black Moonlight’ and ‘Confession in the Afterlife’. Furthermore, long-term fans of the band will be thrilled to learn that the original band line-up of Nick Rhodes, Andy Taylor, Roger Taylor, John Taylor, and Simon Le Bon will be reunited for many tracks on the album.
Tracklist:
- Nightboat
- Black Moonlight
- Love Voudou
- Bury a Friend
- Supernature
- Danse Macabre
- Secret Oktober 31st
- Ghost Town
- Paint It Black
- Super Lonely Freak
- Spellbound
- Psycho Killer
- Confession In The Afterlife
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