Duran Duran
Danse Macabre
TAPE MODERN/BMG
On something of a recording roll since the release of 2021’s glossy yet earnest Future Past, Duran Duran’s brain trust—Simon Le Bon, Nick Rhodes, and the Taylors John and Roger—attack the spooky, costume-y allure of Halloween, welcome friends old (Nile Rodgers, former members Andy Taylor and Warren Cuccurullo) and new (Måneskin’s Victoria De Angelis), and play the role of cover band with an anxious handful of new takes on old material on Danse Macabre. Though “gothic” in the broader sense (capital G, à la Poe rather than Bauhaus) and with a production sound emphasizing darker, simmering tones, the synthpop icons exhibit their rarely witnessed sense of humor on this set of songs. At least I hope the Double D were going for laughs in covering Rick James and Talking Heads, because they come off as goofy.
Leaning into their usual thick slabs of synth and overheated rhythm, Duran’s own songs are disco-plus, and flush for it. “Zombie in the back room, nuns in the bed / Kids in Kiss makeup toasting the bread,” yells Le Bon with nary a hint of subtlety on the album’s title track, one of three new compositions included on the LP. Other original songs, such as the haunted, groove-conscious likes of 1981’s “Nightboat” and the original cut “Black Moonlight,” remind us why these earliest of New Romantics were (weirdly) built to last 45 years after their start: They understand the craft of style over substance and work their own chic compositions’ every hook. As for tackling Siouxsie & the Banshees’ raging “Spellbound”? No. The Specials’ slithering “Ghost Town”? Big no. And Billie Eilish’s “Bury a Friend”? WTF...is Le Bon impersonating Gary Oldman’s Dracula as he sings Eilish’s gently bruised texts?
Give Duran Duran credit for—in Ricky Gervais’ terminology—having a laugh this late in the game, and deconstructing their own songs’ sounds for the sake of humorous conceptualism. But they should’ve known to stay away from covering anything this subtle.
