Duran Duran 'All You Need Is Now'
BY DOUGWALLEN ON MAR 27 2011, 12:00AM
Duran Duran
All You Need is Now
(Shock)
How does a once-mighty band go about reconnecting with the world at large? There are countless routes, but few as foolproof as the one Duran Duran takes here. The iconic new wave quartet envisioned its 13th album as a sort of spiritual follow-up to 1982âs Rio, which contained the signature hit âHungry Like the Wolfâ and another in the swooning title track. And so the band enlisted co-producer and unabashed fan Mark Ronson and co-wrote most of the album with their own fill-in guitarist Dominic Brown, also a successful writer-for-hire. Keyboardist Nick Rhodes also opted for analogue synths over digital ones. The result, unsurprisingly, is a solid rebirth.
Itâs only natural that Duran Duran should want to wrest some synth-pop glory back from descendants like Cut Copy, Friendly Fires, The Killers, and even Yeasayer. Helping its chances are Simon Le Bonâs resilient vocals â still with that slick edge of desperation â and catchy music thatâs light on its feet against an often spare backdrop. These are pop anthems pitched to the dancefloor, propulsive and uncomplicated.
That said, the albumâs first half is content to be retro and not much more. While the opening title track does lodge in oneâs head, itâs broad and slightly annoying. Then âBlame the Machinesâ and âBeing Followedâ harken safely back to themes rampant in the bandâs â80s heyday. Chic-style funk gets worked into âSafe (In the Heat of the Moment)â, with a guest spot by Scissor Sistersâ Ana Matronic recalling Blondieâs âRaptureâ. While fun, âGirl Panic!â and âLeave a Light Onâ are also all too familiar.
What makes All You Need is Now truly appealing is the way its second half graduates from such easy formula to looser, smarter, near-experimental terrain. Forecasting the shift midway is the interlude âDiamond In the Mindâ, reprising the title track and thickening it with studious strings. Then comes the standout âThe Man Who Stole a Leopardâ, a reference to both the 1965 film The Collector and Rio closer âThe Chauffeurâ. Itâs open, searching, and slow, with a couched vocal cameo from Kelis and the albumâs second appearance from British newsreader Nina Hossain. At six haunting minutes, itâs a world away from those earlier, by-the-numbers tracks.
While things are never quite so daring again, the remaining songs are decidedly winsome. âOther Peopleâs Livesâ is classically Duran Duran, âMediterraneaâ exudes smarmy seaside charm, and âRunway Runawayâ zips along appropriately. A co-write with Kaiser Chiefsâ Nick Hodgson, âToo Bad, Youâre So Beautifulâ flirts with both rubbery funk and dance music, whilst âReturn to Nowâ is another brief interlude/reprisal with strings, now lending an air of old-school weight to the album. The closing âBefore the Rainâ sets off into slow-motion delirium, with darker lyrics, strings, and electronics.
If All You Need is Now first plays like a micromanaged addition to the oeuvre, it soon regains the sense of possibility thatâs crucial to pop, whether new or old. It may be laden with echoes of a much earlier Duran Duran, but it has a life of its own too.
Doug Wallen
Courtesy the Vine
http://www.thevine.com.au/music/album-reviews/duran-duran-'all-you-need-is-now'20110327.aspx