What year is it?

May 21, 2021 5:34 AM

New music this week! Duran Duran's new single Invisible [3m24s] has them sounding a lot like Duran Duran, while Pet Shop Boys' Cricket Wife [10m] is a neo-classical Lied.

Invisible is mixed in "360 Reality Audio" for spacial headphone effects.

posted by hippybear (20 comments total)

I had to click through to make sure that 'new single' actually meant 'yes, as in released in 2021'. Which it did. I had no idea Duran Duran were around and still together, let alone actually recording. Only gave it a quick listen but it sounds ... just like them, 30 years ago. Not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing.
posted by widdershins at 8:02 AM on May 21, 2021 [1 favorite]

Yeah, Duran Duran has had an amazingly long run and have had several good albums over the last decade. Simon Le Bon is a force of nature for continuing to be able to sing like that.
posted by mcstayinskool at 8:08 AM on May 21, 2021 [2 favorites]

"Simon Le Bon is a force of nature for continuing to be able to sing like that."

- QFT. I'm pleasantly surprised at how instantly recognizable his voice still is, 40+ years later.
posted by davidmsc at 8:53 AM on May 21, 2021 [1 favorite]

There was a good Duran Duran interview / article in the Guardian today.
posted by ElasticParrot at 9:43 AM on May 21, 2021 [2 favorites]

I couldn't find out much about "Huxley" the supposed AI behind the video, but I would guess they're playing with OpenAI datasets. Expect some insane visuals in the next few years.
posted by RobotVoodooPower at 1:23 PM on May 21, 2021

Duran Duran has had an amazingly long run and have had several good albums over the last decade

Paper Gods is a really great album. It's their most recent, with a new one pending apparently quite soon.
posted by hippybear at 10:04 PM on May 21, 2021 [1 favorite]

I saw Duran Duran in concert on the Paper Gods tour and they blew the roof off the place. The first single from that album - the Nile Rodgers produced "Pressure Off" - is, in the word's of today's youths, a banger.
posted by Joey Michaels at 11:18 PM on May 21, 2021 [2 favorites]

It's interesting. When I listen to The Weeknd, I definitely hear some Duran Duran influence (and not just me, it's definitely been thrown out there in reviews). And, as everyone said above, this is very distinctly Duran Duran, but it also sounds like they've listened to The Weeknd and taken a dollop of his vibe – the bits they didn't influence.

There's a lot of music I have to hear a few times before I can make a decision, but I liked this one instantly.
posted by rednikki at 4:56 AM on May 22, 2021

I listened to a bit of the Pet Shop Boys song, but it is not a good fit for my current headspace. I appreciate it aesthetically, but it's not for me right now.
posted by rednikki at 5:00 AM on May 22, 2021 [1 favorite]

Same - I listened to and watched the entire Duran Duran video, but cut off the PetShop Boys after a few minutes (and it’s a song that is nearly 10 minutes long).
posted by seawallrunner at 5:14 AM on May 22, 2021

I’m not going to pretend like I was obsessed with Duran Duran when I was twelve because they were outstanding artists...BUT...it’s why I still love them at 49.

(JT is still hot, btw)
posted by double bubble at 12:09 PM on May 22, 2021 [1 favorite]

That PSB track is a bit more on their artsy side than most are prepared for... Perhaps this playlist of 7 tracks they created for a stage production of My Beautiful Laundrette (adapted from the film) would be more satisfying.
posted by hippybear at 6:30 AM on May 23, 2021

I mean, really, what I love about Pet Shop Boys is how they do anything and everything. They did a soundtrack for The Battleship Potemkin which is deeply moving. They did a ballet, The Most Incredible Thing, which has had productions around the world. They have done a musical, Closer To Heaven, and a cabaret show, Music. They really are one of the most interesting things that still exists from the 80s, IMO.

(Not a giant fan of their latest album, Hotspot, however. It's telling that the tour they want to do in support of it is a Greatest Hits tour and not really touring that album like they have for their previous several.)
posted by hippybear at 6:41 AM on May 23, 2021

The cabaret show is Musik. Thanks, autocorrect.
posted by hippybear at 7:16 AM on May 23, 2021

I like the Pet Shop Boys song!
posted by ericthegardener at 9:19 AM on May 23, 2021

Oh, and apparently Duran Duran is playing the Billboard Music Awards tonight. It's on television somewhere. For those who care.
posted by hippybear at 2:19 PM on May 23, 2021

Duran Duran posts their BBMA performance of Invisible to twitter.
posted by hippybear at 8:03 PM on May 23, 2021

From FirstPost, How Duran Duran's Billboard Music Awards performance was their most contemporary creative effort
posted by hippybear at 6:17 PM on May 24, 2021

GRAHAM COXON (of Blur)? He's their guitarist now? What?!

Simon sounds terrific, if the BBMA performance is anything to go by. If they tour in the next year I'll have to go!
posted by droplet at 9:10 PM on May 24, 2021

Here's a Billboard article with a podcast interview [and written highlights] with Simon about the new album, the video, and a lot of other things. The interview begins at -25:53 and runs to the end of the episode, ~26m.
posted by hippybear at 9:21 PM on May 25, 2021