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“They’re four guys that, as you can imagine, have four different tastes in music but where they meet in the middle just happens to be a place of impeccably good taste. “They are constantly listening to new shit, digging for new sounds, singers, producers,” says Ronson, who first met up with Duran Duran on 2010’s All You Need Is Now. Regardless of the results, however, Duran Duran continues to make a career out of embracing the now. Other times, Duran Duran’s magpie sensibility has backfired - see 1995’s misbegotten covers record Thank You, which unleashed Duran Duran’s version of Public Enemy’s “911 Is a Joke” upon an unsuspecting public, and 2007’s Red Carpet Massacre, a dalliance with Timbaland that caused a minor revolt among fans. (Both rejoined in 2001, though Andy Taylor left again in 2006.) Sometimes this elasticity has worked out spectacularly well, like when Rodgers was tapped in the mid-’80s to remix “The Reflex” and produce 1986’s Notorious, the first of many Duran Duran “comeback” albums, recorded in the aftermath of departures by guitarist Andy Taylor and drummer Roger Taylor.
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Unlike contemporaries such as Depeche Mode and the Cure, which have fixed sonic identities that have scarcely changed since their Reagan-era primes, Duran Duran has always been conscious of the latest pop trends and proactive about absorbing them. The roll call more or less reflects the sound of Paper Gods - up-tempo, dance-oriented pop tricked out with R&B, hip-hop, and alt-rock. Hudson - a 36-year-old British songwriter/producer best known for his contributions to Kanye West’s 808s & Heartbreak and Jay Z’s hit single “Young Forever” - along with guest stars like Janelle Monae, former Red Hot Chili Peppers guitarist John Frusciante, the Canadian singer Kiesza, and Jonas Bjerre of the Danish rock band Mew. While reenlisting past collaborators like Nile Rodgers and Mark Ronson, Duran Duran also leaned on Mr. While Duran Duran will always be associated with a slickly sexy synth-rock sound that’s been reappropriated in recent years by bands like the Killers and Franz Ferdinand, Paper Gods incorporates contemporary pop into the group’s iconic aesthetic. Ostensibly, I’m here to talk to Duran Duran about Paper Gods, the band’s 14th album. Clockwise from top left: John Taylor, Simon Le Bon, Roger Taylor, Nick Rhodes, and Andy Taylor. Michael Putland/Getty Images Duran Duran in 1981. “You could’ve shaved your legs,” says John Taylor dryly. When the other half of Duran Duran - Rhodes and bassist John Taylor, buddies since childhood and the band’s cofounders - replace Le Bon and Roger Taylor on the couch 45 minutes later, my sartorial pragmatism once again comes under scrutiny. “I still hang on to a pair of white Crocs at home. “I went through a Crocs phase, which was a really unfortunate thing,” Le Bon admits with an impish grin.
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“We could sneak them into the studio one day, I think.” “Well, not when you’re on call or on duty. “I didn’t know that,” deadpans drummer Roger Taylor, taking a seat next to Le Bon on a couch.
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“But ‘No shorts’ is one of the rules, isn’t it?” It’s a bit like the British constitution - we’re unwritten,” singer Simon Le Bon says. “There’s not many rules in Duran Duran, actually. Have I mentioned that it was 95 freaking degrees outside? Shorts are a commonly accepted compromise in the midsummer heat, but in the presence of Duran Duran, my naked legs are instantly conspicuous. The others affect a business casual vibe in fitted T-shirts and trim slacks - comfortable, but also prepared should a photo shoot break out. When I actually meet the four Duranies, now in their mid-fifties, in late July inside a fabulously swanky apartment on Manhattan’s Upper East Side, they look predictably louche - keyboardist Nick Rhodes is the most stylish in a peach-pink suit, Golden Goose sneakers, and tastefully applied eyeliner. I imagined meeting the band at a dusty café in Sri Lanka, where we’d do bumps off the silverware while Russell Mulcahy 1 maniacally displayed storyboards for Duran Duran’s next absurdly expensive music video. Impossibly chic, impeccably cheek-boned, and improbably dashing while riding astride luxury yachts and wrestling with face-painted jungle models - for nearly 35 years, this has been Duran Duran’s indelible iconography.