11th October London
DURAN DURAN
Reach Up For The Charts!
SUNRISE
Blasts Into The Top 10 At #5!
STUDIO ALBUM ASTRONAUT HITS STORES TODAY!
With their new album, Astronaut in-stores today, the five original members of DURAN DURAN (Simon LeBon, Andy Taylor, John Taylor, Roger Taylor and Nick Rhodes) are celebrating their highest UK chart entry for 19 years, as (Reach Up For The) Sunrise the albums first single blasts its way into the #5 spot. This marks their fourteenth Top 10 hit and proves, beyond any doubt, that Duran Duran are here to stay.
Duran Duran have influenced a whole new generation of artists and bands from The Killers, The Scissor Sisters and Franz Ferdinand to Ladytron and No Doubt. Babydaddy from the cult band The Scissor Sisters sums this up: "To think we're carrying on the Duran Duran tradition makes me proud," he says. "Their music was pop music, but it was subversive. It speaks to the outsider, and it's completely accessible to everyone."
(Reach Up For The) Sunrise which was one of the first tracks to be written for the band's new album, during a month-long writing and pre-production session in the South of France, some 18 months ago - is a classic Duran Duran anthem - a real feel-good record that comes to life with boundless energy and emotion. Rich with the distinctive sound of LeBons powerful vocals, Nick Rhodes familiar keyboard landscape and the reunited Taylor Trio rhythm and bass grooves, Sunrise is signature Duran Duran for the new millennium.
Lead singer Simon LeBon said of this weeks chart position; Its an amazing achievement, and we are all absolutely delighted that the last two years of hard work has paid off. Doing this well in our home market with our first single means a great deal to us all and is a testament to the unique and complex chemistry that exists between the five of us. Its something very magical.
Like the single, Astronaut was recorded at Londons Sphere Studios with Don Gilmore (Linkin Park, Good Charlotte), Dallas Austin (Madonna, Christine Aguilera, TLC, Usher and Gwen Stefani) and Nile Rodgers (Madonna, David Bowie, Duran Duran) sharing production responsibilities with the band. Astronaut marks Duran Durans first release on Epic Records, since they signed their new deal with the major earlier this year. Jeremy Wheatley (Massive Attack, Sugababes and The Dandy Warhols) mixed the album at Olympic Studios in London.
Alongside the standard 12-track album, Epic is also releasing today a special limited edition deluxe package of Astronaut, featuring a 24-page colour booklet and a bonus 45-minute DVD that includes candid, behind-the-scenes footage (shot by award-winning documentary film-maker Gavin Elder) and five full-length live tracks from the band's sold-out concert run at Wembley Arena earlier this year. Live songs included are: (Reach Up For The) Sunrise, Hungry Like The Wolf, What Happens Tomorrow, Union of the Snake and Wild Boys. Also featured on the DVD is the spectacular music video for (Reach Up For The) Sunrise.
ENDS
The Spectacular New Album
ASTRONAUT
11.10.04 on Epic Records.
