The Bite Magazine - Spring/Summer 2021 - Issue 29

bitenewmusic Duran Duran Invisible N ew wave and pop legends Duran Duran prom- inent in the 1980s and 1990s are back, albeit with one less member. Their forthcoming stu- dio album Future Past will be released on 22 October 2021 via Tape Modern for BMG. Furthermore, they have announced the first-of-a-kind collaboration with 360 Reality Audio for the new album, single, music vid- eo and back catalogue. On 23 May, the band performed at the 2021 Billboard Music Awards with former Blur lead guitarist Graham Coxon. The first single from the album ‘Invisible’ produced by Erol Alkan and Duran Duran and mixed by Mark ‘Spike’ Stent features Giorgio Moroder and Mark Ronson be- hind the board, Graham Coxon on guitar, Bowie’s for- mer pianist Mike Garson and guests vocals from Lyk- ke Li. The music video is an outstanding technological presentation with Artificial Intelligence (AI) called Hux- ley at the helm. Its ‘mind’ has been designed based on what we know about how humans’ cognitive and emo- tional processes work. Huxley is described as a unique dream with an AI brain that creates and dreams much as we do and uses an es- tablished technique called ‘active inference’ created by Karl Friston (one of the most influential neuroscientists in history). Through this, we can explore the complex dreamscapes that it has imagined from the lyrics and emotional tone of the song. Huxley takes the concepts rooted in human language and iconic symbolism and translates them into provocative and daring imagery. Talking about the single from his home in London, co-founder and keyboardist Nick Rhodes said, “Son- ic architecture has always been incredibly important to Duran Duran. 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.” Lead singer Simon Le Bon added, “When we first went into the studio in late 2018, 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 develop- ment, 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. 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.”