Duran Duran’s Simon Le Bon reflects on the ‘Future Past’ (released October 2021)
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Out Now: Duran Duran Marches Forward with a Familiar, Fresh Approach on New Album ‘Future Past’ (Listen)
Duran Duran Keep Their Feet on the Dance Floor With “Future Past”
More than 40 years after first forming, the famed and influential British rock band are still tight-knit. When the four members—singer Simon Le Bon, keyboardist Nick Rhodes, bassist John Taylor and drummer Roger Taylor—get together in a room, as they did during a recent visit to New York to promote their forthcoming album, Future Past, the camaraderie and joking among them is more what you’d expect more from best friends than workmates.
Duran Duran’s 15th studio album ‘Future Past’
NPR’s former Weekend Edition host Lulu Garcia-Navarro speaks with Duran Duran keyboardist Nick Rhodes about the band’s new album, “Future Past.”
Falling for Duran Duran’s “Future Past,” which reflects the band’s signature ingenuity and sentiment
The new “Future Past,” Duran Duran’s 15th studio album, naturally reflects this accumulated growth and sophistication. Like the best Duran Duran albums, the full-length is an immersive, cohesive statement with a meticulous sequence that takes listeners on a journey.
Yet the guiding principle of “Future Past” remains the same as it’s been for nearly every Duran Duran album: explore the kind of new sounds and ideas that can send the band tumbling toward the future.
Over the years, Duran Duran have achieved this goal by consistently working with collaborators fond of reshaping pop music — to name a few, producers like Colin Thurston, Nile Rodgers and Mark Ronson, and musicians such as Justin Timberlake and Janelle Monae.
“Future Past” is no exception.
In the studio, Duran Duran recorded with guitarist Graham Coxon, who cut his teeth in Britpop shapeshifters Blur and is known for adventurous solo work. Coxon is a good match for Duran Duran:
He’s a cerebral player who knows his way around both jagged discord and beautiful melody, meaning he can conjure up razor-sharp accents on “Invisible” or add more delicate shading on the soft-glow title track.
Future Past is a Great New Album by an Old Band
That has changed. Duran Duran’s new record Future Past is a great album—and I do mean album, as in a suite songs that forms a vision, has a personality and takes you on a spiritual journey.
While artists like Taylor Swift and Ariana Grande strive to produce records of “all killer no filler,” which translates into an hour of hook-filled singles about love, resentment and self-empowerment, Duran Duran are after something greater.
This record takes chances and asks the listener for a commitment. It can be a challenging. It’s also brimming with passion, which is different from sex.
It’s a wonderful irony—Duran Duran, the collective that was all about slick videos and shiny surfaces, has made a record of genuine soul and feeling.
REVIEW: Duran Duran travels between musical eras on ‘Future Past’
For the release of the band’s 15th studio album, Future Past, Duran Duran looked to fuse old and new, and no more is that present than on opening track “Invisible.”
The song takes infectious guitar and bass riffs and lays them down with big beats and atmospheric layers.
Worth checking out is a companion film that accompanies the song; a collaboration with the artificial intelligence brain Huxley to create a visual. It’s that mindset that helped shaped the creation of the band’s latest effort.
Duran Duran’s Simon Le Bon reflects on the ‘Future Past’
January 7, 2022
Duran Duran have always been looking forward while not forgetting their past. Their fifteenth studio album, appropriately titled Future Past, has all the signature sounds; bouncy synths, melodic hooks and the ageless voice of lead singer Simon Le Bon.
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