Duran Duran celebrate the 40th anniversary of the band with the release of the hot record called “Future Past”. From the first listen of “Invisible”, some months ago, we almost knew what was coming. The boys are back in town, Simon LeBon, Nick Rhodes, John Taylor and Roger Taylor deliver an album that you can’t help but listen on repeat. It’s their 15th studio release and we’re more than happy that they’re back, I can explain below the reasons.
I’m a fan of Duran Duran since early 80s and have watched them grow, listened to their music upon release, lived the split of the band, the reunite, their 90s era, their 00s gigs in Athens, Greece and loved the collaborations they made. They had their ups and lows like any other band on the planet through the decades. With the release of “Future Past” the initial thought was, let’s see what those guys do in 2021. Well, those guys have put so much energy on the album in each and every song! They’re are at their best, lyrics are exceptional, the synths, the bass, the drums, the power, the 80s feel almost in every single. What I discovered listening to “Future Past” again and again, is that they took all their knowledge, they took all the energy they had as youngster in early 80s, and blended it into a perfect combination of 80s memorabilia, electronic synth pop of 2021. And Simon LeBon delivers exceptional vocals, his voice sounds so good!
40 years on the road is a long way ladies and gentlemen and to have Duran Duran in full band, moreover listening to them delivering their best self on “Future Past”, makes us Duranies again, makes us wanna go into a stadium and scream and shout, dance to all the new singles combined with some of the greatest classics from their list. Comparing this release to other new albums released the last year, this one has so many hits, so many great songs that it deserves to be on your vinyl collection. And it’s an album that doesn’t let you skip a track.
Hands up to Erol Alkan producing the album, as Mark Ronson and Giorgio Moroder. With features as Tove Lo, Blur’s Graham Coxon, Ivorin Doll, Chai and Mike Garson, “Future Past” sounds as fresh as the band from Birmingham released their first album ‘Duran Duran’. I don’t want to go analyzing each single, but I got some favorites, “Give It All Up”, “Future Past”, “Falling”, “Beautiful Lies” amongst others.
Listen to the whole album below and I hope it brings you all the joy, energy and a trip down the memory lane (especially if you were a fan in the 80s).
Their video clip for “Anniversary” made under the talent of Alison Jackson and with lookalike cameos from many favorite artists , brings the aesthetic of classic Duran Duran videos. Watch below.
** from wikipedia, about the cover of the album “Future Past”
The cover is a colourised and combined image of two black-and-white pictures by Japanese photographer Daisuke Yokota. Nick Rhodes met Yokota in 2017 while researching for a documentary about Japanese photographers. The album’s art director Rory McCartney laid the images over the top of one another, creating the effect of a stationary silhouette in red with another silhouette in green moving beyond it, which resonated with McCartney.
The Sound of Nick Zois 