Duran Duran Release New Single 'Black Moonlight'
Their new album is due for release on October 27.
By: Michael Major Sep. 22, 2023
Duran Duran release the brand new single ‘Black Moonlight’, taken from their upcoming album Danse Macabre, due for release on October 27 on Tape Modern via BMG and available to pre-order HERE.
The second of three brand new songs featured on the Danse Macabre album, ‘Black Moonlight’ sees Duran Duran reunited with long-time friend and collaborator Nile Rodgers in a timeless display of dance-rock glamour. Fueled by an instantly catchy bass line and infectious guitar hook, while Nick Rhodes’ synths sound as if cut straight from a sixties B-movie horror, the song also features former band-member Andy Taylor on guitar.
Speaking about ‘Black Moonlight’, keyboardist Nick Rhodes reveals: “Nile Rogers is a force of nature. When we get into a room, we start playing, and magic happens. Nile always says that CHIC is his first band, and Duran Duran is his second. Thematically, I personally prefer the moon to the sun. Simon took the idea and ran with it.”
Simon Le Bon elaborates: “Black Moonlight is this classic Duran Duran-Nile Rodgers collaboration. When Nile started playing his guitar in the studio, he really inspired everyone with his riff, and the song just kind of wrote itself.”
‘Black Moonlight’ follows title track ‘Danse Macabre’, with Billboard proclaims, “is like no Duran Duran song that came before it,”while Vulture calls it “a gothic delight of synthesized riches,” with USA Today saying “the song is powered by a vibe of impending dread, a mesmerizing cadence.”
The stunning official music video was brought to life with creative director Linc Gasking, showcasing cutting-edge, AI-driven techniques in a 3D animated masterpiece that, in previous times, would have demanded an entire team, over a year and a substantial budget to produce. Rolling Stone magazine described the video as a ‘graveyard smash’.
Catalyzed 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.
Fans can 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’.
As well as Nile Rodgers, the album includes more special collaborations with former Duran Duran band members Andy Taylor andWarren Cuccurullo, Victoria De Angelis of Måneskin, and producers Josh Blair and Mr Hudson.
The origin of Danse Macabre begins in Las Vegas, October 31, 2022. Simon Le Bon, John Taylor, Nick Rhodes and Roger Taylor donned full fancy dress, cast a horde of ghouls on a stage complete with 20-foot-high skeletons, tombstones, cobwebs and coffins.
The set included a parade of rarities and special covers - Duran Duran’s first live performance of ‘Secret Oktober’ since 2011, their first of ‘Love Voodoo’ since 2017, and first of ‘Nightboat’ since 2005. Covers of Siouxsie and the Banshees’ ‘Spellbound’, Cerrone’s ‘Supernature’ and The Specials’ ‘Ghost Town’ were also debuted in what has gone down in Duran Duran history as a Halloween show for the ages. The band and their audience had so much fun that they decided to put the set to tape, creating a worldwide Halloween event for all Duran Duran fans to enjoy.
Danse Macabre arrives amidst a busy year of live activity that has already seen Duran Duran perform sold out arena shows across the UK and Ireland. The performances were rapturously received, described as “royalty status” by The Times, “decadent and bombastic” by The Telegraph, “a first class and commanding performance” by CLASH, “joyous” by The Sun, "national treasures" by The Spectatorwhilst the Mail On Sunday confirmed, “their charms haven’t changed”. The band conclude their FUTURE PAST sold-out headline arena tour across North America this weekend, with shows in New York at Forest Hills Stadium tomorrow night, and Atlantic City on Saturday.
Meanwhile, the rave reviews continue to pour in with Dallas Voice praising the band for sounding “just as fresh as they were decades ago," observing the band having “the audience in their grip." Mercury News noted by the end of their set they “left the thousands of passionate fans clamoring for more." Boca Raton Tribune noted “Duran Duran delivered, sounding better than ever,” While Tampa Bay Times exclaimed "Their live performance still feels like a music video you want to watch over and over again!"
Danse Macabre follows a wave of landmark achievements for Duran Duran. Their 2022 induction into the Rock & Roll Hall Of Famemarked 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.
Danse Macabre will be released on October 27 via Tape Modern for BMG with artwork featuring images adapted from a collection of authentic vintage séance photos sourced by Nick Rhodes at auction. It will be available on Black 2LP and CD, with a limited-edition Translucent Galaxy 2LP. The album will also be available on high res blu-ray audio. Pre-order HERE.
Photo Credit: Stephanie Pistel
Comments
Videos