Duran Duran
DANSE MACABRE
BMG/Tape Modern
Released 10/27/23
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Arriving just in time for next week’s Halloween festivities, Duran Duran’s sixteenth studio album DANSE MACABRE is described by Simon Le Bon in the official press release as akin to “a crazy Halloween party.” The follow-up to 2021’s acclaimed FUTURE PAST features a total of thirteen songs, including three new original compositions in the form of “Danse Macabre,” ‘Black Moonlight” featuring Nile Rodgers and former guitarist Andy Taylor, and “Confession in the Afterlife.”
The rest of the album contains reimagined versions of the band’s previous songs “Love Voodoo” (lifted from 1993’s ‘The Wedding Album,’ revised to ‘Love Voudou” here), “Nightboat” (from their eponymous 1981 debut album) and “Secret Oktober 31st,” which originally appeared as the B-side on the 1983 “Union of the Snake” 7” single release, juxtaposed with covers of songs by Billie Eilish, Cerrone, The Rolling Stones, Siouxsie and The Banshees, The Specials, and Talking Heads. Rounding out the set is “Super Lonely Freak,” which takes its inspiration from Rick James’ 1981 hit single “Super Freak.”
‘The idea (for the album) was born out of a show we played in Las Vegas on October 31st, 2022,” Nick Rhodes explains in an official statement. “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 humor was simply irresistible.
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.”
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