Duran Duran announce new album Future Past after signing record deal with BMG

Duran Duran have announced details of their new album, titled Future Past. 

The new wave band will release their 15th studio record on October 22 via their new label BMG, who the group have signed with for the new collection, as well as their post-1997 back catalogue. 

Duran Duran unveiled the album's lead single, Invisible, today on BBC Radio 2's Zoe Ball Breakfast Show (May 19). The band will perform the track live in London for the 2021 Billboard Music Awards on Sunday, May 23. Listen below: 

"Sonic architecture has always been incredibly important to Duran Duran," said Nick Rhodes. “I think, with Invisible, we really have managed to carve the sculpture the way we wanted it. Sonically, it's a very unusual piece of music. I think when you merge all the instruments together, it creates an overall sound that perhaps you haven't heard before."

The music video for Invisible was created by an Artificial Intelligence called Huxley and features a simulated 360 Reality Audio Experience where fans can immerse themselves in the music with any pair of headphones.

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Discussing their forthcoming album - their first since 2015's Paper Gods - Simon Le Bon reveals that the band first went into the studio in 2018, adding: "I was trying to persuade the guys that all we needed to do was write two or three tracks for an EP.  Four days later, with the nucleus of 25 plus strong songs in the can, that all deserved development, I realised we’d be in it for the long haul, but that was before Covid.

"So here we are in 2021 with our 15th studio album, Future Past straining at the leash. Music by Duran Duran with Graham Coxon, Lykke Li, Mike Garson, Erol Alkan, Mark Ronson, Giogio Moroder (for God’s sake!). I’m not saying it’s epic, but well ... yes I am.

"We open with the song Invisible, which began as a story about a one-sided relationship but grew into something much bigger, because 'a voiceless crowd isn’t backing down'. John and Roger’s rhythm track is mountainous; Nick’s melodies twist and soar; Graham’s guitar is a knife. It feels exactly right for right now."

The album's artwork was created in collaboration with Japanese artist Daisuke Yokota, who Nick Rhodes first met in 2019 when he was in Japan making a documentary on post-war photography.

Formats for the the album include the standard CD of Future Past, a limited edition deluxe hardback book CD format with three additional tracks, coloured vinyl and cassette. 

To date, Duran Duran have landed 10 Top 40 albums on the Official Chart, plus 30 Top 40 singles. View Duran Duran's Official Chart history here.