Wild Boys Return
Twenty-one years is a long time between albums. But for 80s pop outfit Duran Duran, the timing's right and the British band is preparing for the release of its first album together since Seven and the Ragged Tiger in 1983.
"Planetary alignment, it just had to be," Duran Duran's John Taylor said in Sydney yesterday.
"We were all in a place where we wanted to do it.
"Also, I guess we all kind of felt that if we wanted to do it, this was the last chance really."
Duran Duran's original troupe - Simon Le Bon, Andy Taylor, Roger Taylor, Nick Rhodes, and John Taylor - arrived in Australia on Sunday for a brief promotional visit.
The group, who are now all in their 40s, will spend two days in Sydney before travelling to Melbourne. Following that, the group fly to Hong Kong and then Tokyo.
Andy and John Taylor left the group in 1985 and after pursuing solo and other group interests, the original members got back together in 2001.
The new album, Astronaut, was three years in the making and has been slated for an October 4 release.
The first single, Sunrise, will hit stores on September 20 and has been described as "upbeat with a dark side".
"It is the best collection of Duran Duran songs we have ever done, without a doubt," John said.
"That is always your intention that your latest album is going to be your best work, you learn more and you grow."
"The songs are all written by us. They all mean something, different things to some of us, but it really is about the songs."
Song titles range from Bedroom Toys to Taste the Summer, Finest Hour and Chains.
"It is really like your first album in a sense where you have been apart for so long, you have got years and years of ideas that you want to get into," Andy Taylor said.
At one point Duran Duran had more than 30 songs selected for the album.
"But we have really honed it down so that everything on this album is a great track," Roger Taylor said.
"I am sick of buying a CD where you get two good songs and the rest are fillers."
Duran Duran last visited Australia in December 2003, supporting British rocker Robbie Williams for his regional tour.
Some media reports suggested Duran Duran had stolen the show, even though many of the screaming fans weren't even born when their hits, View to Kill, Girls on Film and Hungry Like The Wolf first came out.
"It was a tremendous exercise in humility for us," John Taylor said.
"We actually learnt a lot from Robbie because he is the expert at those kind of shows."
John added that Duran Duran would embark on an international tour later this year, taking in Europe and America before making their way back to Australia.
"Next time we come back and we will be top of the bill."
Courtesy of Sydney Morning Herald
