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. “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. “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.
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