Duran Duran - Paper Gods (2015)

Out in September.

Production by Mr.Hudson, Nile Rodgers, Mark Ronson and (I think) another dude, who's name escapes me.
Guest appearances by Janelle Monae (on "Pressure Off", the first single), Kiesza, John Frusciante and Lindsay Lohan.

The single is probably their most single-y single in yonks (not that it stands a chance of being a hit). All Nile Rodgers guitar, shouty big chorus, crowd noise, etc... Enjoyable enough, but it ain't "Get Lucky" or "Uptown Funk", hit-wise.

Kinda happy they're sounding a bit more contemporary this time round. 'All You Need is Now' was nice (especially "The Man Who Stole a Leopard"), but the whole thing of old ppl reverting to either their old sound or some authentic sound of the past usually tastes a little funny to me. At their best, records like that still won't displace the old faves on the turntable. At their worst, there's a cynicism to them I can't get past. Like the band is LARP-ing as their younger selves or something. Whether the new album is good or bad, it ain't that.

tl:dr
1. Duran make a (sort of) contemporary pop album.
2. I dig it when old ppl risk looking foolish by making drum'n'bass albums or whatever, instead of playing to their perceived strengths (e.g. "Undercover of the Night" > "Mixed Emotions").

I haven't heard the new single yet but I am looking forward to this album. All You Need Is Now was my favourite album of theirs since Notorious.

These guys really didn't need to make any more music after 1985.

I'm glad they did though. Notorious is a brilliant album and they've had plenty of good moments since then.

Well, I guess they did 'Ordinary World', and... uh...

Come Undone
Sin Of The City
Out Of My Mind
Nice
Taste Of Summer
All She Wants Is
Serious
One Of Those Days
Zoom In

Most of All You Need Is Now and all of Notorious. That's not bad going.

On first handful of listens, the album is quite good.
Definitely not free of mis-steps, but, on the whole, brings the sass and the melancholy you (I) hope for in a Duran album.

Lots of big choruses (not just the title repeated over and over), good beats, ungainly lyrics, Nick Rhodes moments... feels like my fave of the post-reunion albums.

Astronaut wasn't quite there.
RCM had its moments, but was a bit lazy sounding for Tim and Danja. More attention to detail could've brought this one round.
All You Need is Now - was nice. "The Man Who Stole a Leopard" and "Mediterranea" and bits of other songs were great, but it ultimately felt a bit toothless. Maybe they didn't completely want to pretend they were the exact band they were 20-some odd year ago?

Anyway, this one is wonderfully age inappropriate and quite a good time. Viva Duran.

This thread inspired me to go listen to Pressure Off, which is good enough for what it is I guess, but I also noticed Boys Keep Swinging right underneath it on Spotify with a 2014 date. I have no memory of there being a DD single last year, but it's wonderful!

Oh, der...now I see it's an old Bowie song (it probably would've clicked if I'd thought about it any longer) and it's actually from 2010.

"Pressure Off" would definitely be in the bottom third of the album for me.
It's super ok, but, just that, I think.

it's hilarious that Nile Rodgers is hip enough for him to get a "featuring" credit

Totally.
Especially since he was (mostly) frozen out of Astronaut, after starting the record with them.
"Ooh... you're popular now? We love you, Nile!"

So... all sortsa songs released since then.

"Paper Gods". Good tune. Clunky lyrics:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gG3k7YJhf98

Electronic-y ballad-y "You Kill Me With Silence":
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yq_164toLuE

And the very Duran-sounding ballad ballad "What Are The Chances?" with John Frusciante:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5qWTHJnGf50

The tracks they've released don't really give the game away too much though. Really is a much better album than anything they've done in yonks.
Not as lazy-sounding as they can be. Which is nice!

"Only in Dreams" and "The Universe Alone" are super.

LeBon's voice is in fine shape on all these, but You Kill Me With Silence in particular sounds like he teleported in from 1984.

"Paper Goods"

Simon Le Blob.

Just been catching up with the new songs they've put out there. This album is sounding really good so far. Pressure Off is my least favourite of the songs I've heard but I can understand why it was the single.

Hey, this is actually OK!

On Spotify now, so I went into it with fairly lowered expectations, like, OK, duty listen. And though there were a few predictably winceworthy moments (mostly at guest spots), on the whole it's really quite good. I could, however, have been suckered in by the fantastic and totally operatic space-goth ending, but that's the kind of OTT thing I want from my Duran albums.

Nostalgia-riffic interview about Ye Olden Days if you're into that sort of thing (warning: may contain Simon Price) http://www.theguardian.com/music/2015/sep/10/duran-duran-snubbed-dylan-simon-le-bon-paper-gods

It's not quite as good as All You Need Is Now but it's an enjoyable record. Sunset Garage is probably my favourite song they've done since Ordinary World.

Love the title track too. Brilliant way to start the album. Reminds me so much of Hot Chip.

Maybe I should give All You Need Is Now another listen, but I don't remember getting much past the Duty Listen on it. While I have been spinning this one perfectly willingly.