Duran Duran have announced their 16th studio album Danse Macabre, in time for this year’s Halloween, and have shared the title track.
The record is due for release on October 27 on Tape Modern via BMG. Catalysed by one special live performance that Duran Duran filmed in Las Vegas on October 31 of last year, Danse Macabre is the soundtrack to their ultimate Halloween party. Across 13 tracks the band unearth bright melodies from the darkness, threading together new songs, themed covers, and newly reimagined versions of their own ‘spooky’ classics.
Title track ‘Danse Macabre’ is the first of three brand new songs on the record. Anxious percussion sets the tempo against a distorted, growling synthesiser as Simon Le Bon’s swaggering verses give way to a handclap-laden and hypnotic hook. Teaming with producer Mr Hudson, channelling the chemistry they unlocked together on the Paper Gods album, the song also features former band-mate Warren Cuccurullo on guitar in his first collaboration with the band since 2001. With creative director Linc Gasking at the helm, the video for ‘Danse Macabre’ showcases a series of proprietary AI powered processes that have never been put together in this way before.
Listen to ‘Danse Macabre‘ by Duran Duran on the Aston Villa Matchday: Official Playlist on Spotify.
Speaking about Danse Macabre, 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 October 31st, 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.
“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.”
Fans can also look forward to Duran Duran’s Halloween covers of Billie Eilish’s ‘Bury A Friend’, Talking Heads’ ‘Psycho Killer’ (feat. Victoria De Angelis of Måneskin), The Rolling Stones’ ‘Paint It Black’, the Rick James-inspired ‘Super Lonely Freak’, Siouxsie and the Banshees’ ‘Spellbound’, Cerrone’s ‘Supernature’ and The Specials’ ‘Ghost Town’. Other collaborators on the record include Warren Cuccurullo, former Duran Duran band member Andy Taylor, producer, guitarist and composer Nile Rodgers and producers Josh Blair and Mr Hudson.
Danse Macabre follows a wave of landmark achievements for Duran Duran. Their 2022 induction into the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame marked yet another career peak with the year already having seen the band headline London’s Hyde Park, perform at the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee Concert at Buckingham Palace, close the opening ceremony of the Commonwealth Games in their home town of Birmingham, and a headline tour across North America which included sold out shows at New York’s Madison Square Garden and three nights at the Hollywood Bowl.
