2021 studio album by Duran Duran

Future Past is the fifteenth studio album by the English pop rock band Duran Duran, released on 22 October 2021. It is the band`s first album to be released through BMG, and their first since 2015`s Paper Gods six years prior.[8][9]

The album, co-produced by the band alongside Mark Ronson, Giorgio Moroder and Erol Alkan, also features guest appearances by Tove Lo, Ivorian Doll, Japanese band Chai, and Mike Garson. Blur`s Graham Coxon is the guitarist on the album.[9]

The band released the album`s first single "Invisible" on 19 May 2021.[10] The tracks "More Joy!" featuring Chai, "Anniversary", "Tonight United" and "Give It All Up" featuring Tove Lo were also released in advance of the album.[11]

Background and content

John Taylor described Future Past as a "very emotionally deep album", revealing that the lyrics were primarily written before 2020`s COVID-19 lockdowns: "Many of the songs are about emotional crises, or long-term intimacy issues, let`s call them. When we came back after lockdown, I felt that those lyrics, particularly `Invisible`, spoke to the moment, because the last 18 months have really been about intimacy politics."[12] Simon Le Bon later revealed that making of the album started in November 2018 during a performance in the BBC Radio Theatre, broadcast live on BBC Radio 2, BBC Sounds and BBC iPlayer in December 2021.[13] He credited the British guitarist Graham Coxon as a significant figure in the creation of the album, stating that "he changed the picture of Duran Duran, he upped all of our games and he played some of the most incredible guitar that I`ve (Simon Le Bon) ever heard on any album".[13]

Cover art

The cover is a colourised and combined image of two black-and-white pictures by Japanese photographer Daisuke Yokota. Nick Rhodes met Yokota in 2017 while researching for a documentary about Japanese photographers. The album`s art director Rory McCartney laid the images over the top of one another, creating the effect of a stationary silhouette in red with another silhouette in green moving beyond it, which resonated with McCartney.[14]

Critical reception

Future Past was met with generally favorable reviews from music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, the album received an average score of 75, based on six reviews.[15] Clash Music stated: "‘Future Past’ – when it works – is a blast of ridiculous 80s themed fun." musicOMH.com called it "a playfully flawed triumph". "If it had come out in 1985, it would have ruled the world", The Telegraph wrote.[15]

Track listing

Notes

• ^a signifies vocal producer
• ^b signifies an assistant producer
• ^c These tracks are not included on vinyl version

Personnel

Duran Duran

• Simon Le Bon – vocals
• Nick Rhodes – keyboards
• John Taylor – bass
• Roger Taylor – drums

Additional musicians

• Barli – backing vocals
• Graham Coxon – guitars
• Joshua Blair – piano, programming (all tracks); string arrangement (1–3, 5–8), keyboards (3–8), guitars (6), additional keyboards, keyboards programming (9, 10, 12)
• Erol Alkan – programming (1, 9), synthesizers (1, 3), drum programming (2–5, 9, 10, 12), hand clap (2, 10), percussion, tambourine (2)
• Tove Lo – vocals (3)
• Giorgio Moroder – additional keyboards (6, 7)
• Saffron Le Bon – backing vocals (6, 7, 9, 10)
• Mark Ronson – guitars (8)
• Ivorian Doll – vocals (10)
• Chai – vocals (11)
• Mike Garson – piano (12)

Technical

• Wendy Laister – executive production
• John Webber – mastering
• Mark "Spike" Stent – mixing
• Joshua Blair – engineering, Pro Tools
• Austin Creek – engineering (12)
• Peter Karlsson – vocal engineering (3)
• Cory Bice – vocal engineering (3)
• Ritchie Kennedy – additional engineering (1, 2, 4, 5, 9, 10), engineering assistance (3)
• Tom Herbert – engineering assistance (1–5, 9, 10, 12)
• Ed Farrell – engineering assistance (1–5, 9, 10, 12)
• Matt Wolach – mixing assistance
• Benji Compston – production management
• Hannie Knox – production assistance

Design

• Rory McCartney – art direction
• Daisuke Yokota – cover art, photography
• Nick Rhodes – band photo

Charts

Chart performance for Future Past