Duran Duran announce new album: Danse Macabre to ‘celebrate the joy and madness of Halloween’ after Andy Taylor detailed dramatic health U-turn
Duran Duran has announced their 16th studio album: Danse Macabre, in time for Halloween this year and will be released on October 27.
Title track Danse Macabre appeared on Wednesday as the first of three brand new songs and was produced by Mr Hudson.
The release comes days after Andy Taylor revealed he is “asymptomatic” after being previously classified as needing “palliative care at the end of life” amid the battle against prostate cancer, while sharing a dramatic turnaround in health.
Keyboardist Nick Rhodes said, “The song Danse Macabre celebrates the joy and madness of Halloween. It’s the title track of our forthcoming album, which brings together an unusual mix of covers, reworked Duran Duran songs, and several new compositions.
“The idea came from a show we played in Las Vegas on October 31, 2022. We had decided to seize the moment to create a unique, special event… the temptation to use glorious gothic imagery on a dark soundtrack of horror and humor was simply irresistible.
Spooky! Duran Duran has announced a new album called Danse Macabre to ‘celebrate the joy and madness of Halloween’ after Andy Taylor described his dramatic health U-turn
Keyboardist Nick Rhodes said, “The song Danse Macabre celebrates the joy and madness of Halloween. It’s the title track of our forthcoming album, which brings together an unusual mix of cover songs, reworked Duran Duran songs, and several new compositions.”
Simon Le Bon explains: ‘It’s about a crazy Halloween party. It must be fun!’
“That night inspired us to explore further and make an album, with Halloween as the main theme. The record has metamorphosed through a pure, organic process, and since our debut album, not only has it been made faster than anything else, it’s also resulted in something none of us could have ever predicted.
‘Emotion, mood, style and attitude have always been at the core of Duran Duran’s DNA. We look for light in the darkness and darkness in the light, and I feel like we’ve somehow managed to capture the essence of it all in this project. .’
Simon Le Bon explains: ‘It’s about a crazy Halloween party. It must be fun!’
Fans can also look forward to Duran Duran’s Halloween covers of Billie Eilish’s Bury A Friend, Talking Heads’ Psycho Killer (feat. Victoria De Angelis of Måneskin), The Rolling Stones’ Paint It Black, the Rick James-inspired Super Lonely Freak, Siouxsie and Spellbound from the Banshees, Cerrone’s Supernature and Ghost Town from the Specials.”
Guitarist Andy, 62, was diagnosed with incurable stage four metastatic prostate cancer in 2018 and made the shocking news public in November last year.
However, in a new interview, Andy shared a dramatic turnaround in his health after undergoing a groundbreaking treatment, which came about after a doctor told him about another treatment option that specifically targets cancer cells.
Detailing his experience with The timesAndy shared how he underwent a round of this medical intervention, which involved the intravenous administration of radioactive chemicals, which was identified and recommended by scientist Christopher Evans — whom he called the “Elon Musk of cancer.”
The publication reports that the rocker was “radioactive for several days” and cannot sleep in the same room as anyone else or use public transport.
Update: Earlier this week, Andy Taylor said he is now ‘asymptomatic’ amid his battle with prostate cancer after being previously classified as requiring ‘palliative care at the end of life’ – pictured Wednesday
Happy days: He happily signed autographs for fans waiting outside BBC Broadcasting House on the same day news of the album’s release was announced
And Andy gave a post-treatment update, saying, “I was classified as end-of-life palliative care… and now I’m not; I’m asymptomatic.’
Andy has had one round of treatment so far and will have five more rounds, six weeks apart.
Despite the now positive outlook, Andy recalled being in a very low juncture after he was first diagnosed, when at the time he had limited options with “nothing that could keep you alive.”
He said: ‘The nadir is maybe six weeks after the diagnosis, when it really sinks in. You will have to say goodbye to your family. You’re not going to live to see your grandson’s tenth birthday. Psychologically, it’s mind-boggling: you can’t get therapy to take away the certainty of death.’
Andy also shared how he refused chemotherapy because he didn’t want to damage the nerves in his hands because he was a guitar player.
While he kept his illness a secret for years for the sake of his adult children, explaining that he wanted them to “go through life without anyone constantly asking about my health.”
Andy’s terrifying diagnosis was finally revealed publicly (and to his bandmates) in a letter read by Simon Le Bon at Duran Duran’s Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction in November, which Andy was too ill to attend.
Massive: Duran Duran may have been the biggest band in the world once in the 1980s; John Taylor, Simon Le Bon, Nick Rhodes, Andy Taylor and Roger Taylor appear in 1983