NICK RHODES HAS GUIDED DURAN DURAN TO THEIR BEST ALBUM SINCE BIG THING

At one minute 25 seconds of track two on Duran Duran’s new album, there is a minor piano chord that strikes a very human element into a driving electronic track (‘All Of You’ is a genuine banger). It’s precisely what differentiates ‘Future Past’ from its predecessor ‘Paper Gods’ - an organic yin to the electronic yang. And that is what Duran Duran is all about, essentially, electronic sounding pop music made by real musicians. Always a pop group first and foremost (and at one point the world’s biggest), Duran Duran are also a proper band of accomplished self-taught musicians who can really play. The album’s main producer Erol Alkan wanted to hear more of the band playing on this album and all I can say is thank you Erol Alkan for recognising something many fans will feel was missing from Paper Gods. 

That album wasn’t half bad, but the production was frustrating. For a start, you cannot hear John Taylor’s bass thumping on Paper Gods (the exception being the excellent single Pressure Off). This is corrected on ‘Future Past’. On this record, John’s bass is BIG and thumps throughout. In particular, ‘Hammerhead’ has John slapping with pure funk, something he happens to be very good at. 

As a fan, I have often felt a sense of post 80s Duran Duran sometimes trying too hard - to be modern and stay with the times, while also trying to hang on to their old success (or somehow win their popularity back). They never really needed to. But now, with a simple mantra, Nick Rhodes has given the band permission to free themselves from such attachments. “One foot in the future, one in the past” was Rhodes' guiding mantra, and it proves a highly effective compass on Future Past. The album is (whisper it) consistently good from start to finish. Not the usual hit and miss Duran we have come to accept over the past three decades. The album’s success is partly down to a strong set of tunes, but also to the fact that Duran’s five key elements are all in keen form and working in harmony. 

One of those essential elements of course is Simon LeBon. When LeBon is energised, Duran Duran are energised, and on Future Past Simon sounds like a new man, in such fine voice as to be crooning on some songs (the title track for example, and ‘Wing’). On the upbeat tracks he is really belting out, in particular on ‘Anniversary’ (probably the album’s most effective blend of old style Duran single with a futuristic sound). Lyrically, LeBon has always been underrated, despite some genuinely Zeitgeisty couplets back in the band’s heyday. He is back to his best here. On ‘Wing’ (Bond theme-ish but with a nod to The Chauffeur) he sings of a protagonist whose mind is “a jail of jealousy” and calls for “a better man to be in my head”. It’s as good as A View To A Kill. Meanwhile, on ‘Hammerhead’ he sings “the woman inside of me is out to take me down”, hinting that Future Past is essentially Duran Duran’s feminist record. 

The collaborations work too. One of the standout tracks is ‘Give It All Up’ (with Tove Lo, who’s voice blends well with LeBon and quite possibly drives him to peak performance). It features one of the band’s best ever choruses (and that’s saying something) and is genuinely intoxicating. Meanwhile, a London rap on ‘Hammerhead’ from Ivorian Doll is short, sweet and much better than LeBon’s rapping on White Lines (despite that cover becoming a live favourite). 

Guitar duties on the album are largely courtesy Graham Coxon, ex of Blur. Again thanks to production, Coxon’s guitar work on Future Past is more effective than that of Duran Duran’s all-star guest guitarist on Paper Gods, John Frusciante (saying something as Frusciante is possibly the best there is). On ‘Nothing Less’ and the title track, Coxon gives it some, with wonky, off kilter solos of real power. But Coxon blends with the band superbly on Future Past and compliments the overall sound rather than trying to stand out. I wonder who Duran will call on next to fill the celebrity guitar slot? Bernard Butler, perhaps? Bill Ryder-Jones? Who wouldn’t want to fill in the missing gap in one of the five key elements of Duran Duran? (due respect to long-time fifth member Dom Brown of course).

When it comes to drums, the celebrity players in past Duran Duran line-ups of the late 80s and 90s were so good as to “set traps” for Roger Taylor, yet his drumming on Future Past is at turns solid and subtle, with lovely twists and turns between the electronic pads and the organic symbols and shells. In a word, commanding. 

Like all the best albums, there are details that reveal themselves only on repeated listens. The superb instrumental middle eight on Wing, the pulsing power and driving guitar motif of Nothing Less (a reminder that Duran can do serious adult rock) and the (Mike Garson) piano intro of closing track ‘Falling’ (a nod to George Michael more than Bowie, perhaps) giving way to Rhodes’ swirling synth chords, before LeBon comes in with a wistful opening line. It’s wonderful stuff and one of Duran’s best ever album closers.

And yet the centrifugal force, the mastermind, is Rhodes. I thought it was Rhodes that must have gotten his stubborn way on Paper Gods (possibly at the expense of everyone else) but on Future Past he has seemingly unlocked the doors for everyone else to give of their best. He has solved the Duran Duran Rubik’s cube. If this was to be the big 40th anniversary celebration album, then it’s a resounding success, and sets the band up for a terrific year on the road in 2022. They could play most of this album live and not have people going to the bar during the ‘new stuff’. I wonder, with all of their ups and downs over the years, just how much further Duran Duran can go spurred by this sort of form. I recommend a swift follow-up while the band has more in the tank but meanwhile, recommend Future Past as a high quality, repeatable listen.