Released on October 27, 2023, Danse Macabre is described by the band as a Halloween themed album and it is also their sixteenth studio album and features the return of Andy Taylor and Warren Cuccurullo on guitar.
It consists of thirteen tracks, six of which are covers, four are reimaginings of older Duran songs and three are originals. This, perhaps, explains how they were able to turn this around so quickly, since they only really had to write three new songs and not a whole album.
The album starts promisingly with a new version of Nightboat. Simon can’t reach the high notes he used to able to, so the vocal approach is different, and Nick’s strings and haunting sounds original samples from the original make this a nice spooky entry to the Halloween party.
Then we come to the first of the originals, Black Moonlight. It’s the standard funk stylings they have been serving to US audiences for years now (it’s like the rest of the world doesn’t exist anymore). It’s got Nile Rodgers all over it, which is a good thing. Now the party has started and it’s a little less spooky. It’s also got Andy on it, which I like.
Love Voudou, originally Love Voodoo off the Wedding Album, is one of my favourite tracks off that album. It’s been updated here, given the funk treatment again, removing any haunting qualities the original had, but they manage a decent version nonetheless.
Then follows two covers – Bury A Friend (originally by Billie Eilish) and Supernature (originally by Cerrone). Bury A Friend has quite a different feel to the original, but is actually pretty good. Supernature by Cerrone was the first single I ever bought, back in 1978. I bought it because Kenny Everett used it on his Video Show. There’s a missed opportunity here though – in the original there’s a drum solo, which Roger opts not to do. It would have been great to hear him do that solo, or his own version of it.
Danse Macabre, the title track is the second original song. This was the first track released ahead of the album and was the cause of much concern on my part for how good this album would be. Here we hear Simon doing his best Rock DJ Robbie Williams impression in the verses, but choruses are a little toned down. Skip to the next track, quick.
The original Secret Oktober was one of my favourite Duran B sides, so I listened to Secret Oktober 31st with trepidation. Luckily, they haven’t ruined it. Simon even includes the “sshhh” at the start, which is a nice touch. Nick’s synth toy sounds can give it a creepy edge, given the right visuals. Approved.
Duran Duran choose Ghost Town, originally by The Specials, as the next cover. Ghost Town is often chosen for Halloween lists simply because the title has the word “ghost” in it, when it’s actually a criticism of Thatcher’s Britain in the late 70s and early 80s. They have slightly funked it up, and Simon has remembered he has a British accent and uses it in the verses. The drums sounds great on this track and is reasonably faithful to the original. I’m not sure about the backing vocals from Anna and Rachael on this one. Is the band contractually obliged to include them on every track? They literally are on every single one. Is that a production decision? Strange one if it is. If backing vocals are the salt added to the food of music, you probably shouldn’t cover every course with salt, especially dessert.
Now we come to Paint It Black, a Rolling Stones song. Even before I heard this I thought it was a brave choice to tackle. Their first proper mistake on this album. Next.
In the original Lonely In Your Nightmare, from the Rio album, the third verse has a different bass line to the first two, where John has cleverly shoehorned in the bassline from Super Freak into it. They take this further by mashing the two songs together here. Halfway through the song seamless transitions to Super Freak, originally by Rick James. Unlike their live mashups (such as Wild Boys/Relax) it does not transition back to Lonely, which I found a little disappointing.
Like Paint It Black, when I saw Duran was going to tackle Spellbound, I had reservations. In a previous life I was in a band that covered this song and we did a better job than this. John Taylor and Steven Severin are worlds apart in their bass playing styles so John was never going to just copy Severin. It’s not awful, but lacks the energy of the original. Here was another opportunity for Roger to go mad on the drums – again, Roger and Budgie are very different drummers, but Roger doesn’t touch his toms at all, when this song screams for it. Meanwhile, Andy Taylor seems to be playing on a Billy Idol song instead of this one, but it strangely fits. This just passes, but only just.
The next track is the Talking Heads song Psycho Killer. They do a good job on this one, though Simon‘s slightly breathy vocal has none of David Byrne’s quirkiness. This, along with Bury A Friend, is a cover Duran has taken and made their own.
The final track is the third original, Confession In The Afterlife. The mood is taken down for the end of the Halloween party. This track continues the recent trend of ending albums with a slow, moody track. It evokes sounds and feelings of other Duran songs but can’t quite pick which ones. It’s a great closer to the album.
So is this album really a Halloween album? It’s not very spooky is it? Apart from the opener and closer, spookiness and Halloween-ness is largely absent. The artwork, however, cannot be faulted and the ouija board on the vinyl edition is a nice touch. Is it a good album? Mostly, but it has its highs and lows. At least it’s mixed better than Future Past.
The small amount of songwriting needed allowed a two year turnaround after Future Past, and relatively minimal effort would have been required compared with a regular album. This indicates that songwriting takes longer now than it did in the 80s – with 4-5 years between regular albums, can we really expect DD17 in 2027? Part of me would like this effort with Andy to be their final album, as it would be a good one to finish on – go out on a high. I suspect the Controller will want to keep the production line going.
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