Simon LeBon Talks New Duran Duran Single, Streaming
Simon LeBon has spoken about Duran Duran‘s new single, More Joy, a collaboration with Japanese punk band CHAI. The single is the latest to be taken from Duran Duran’s new album, Future Past, to be released on 22 October and available to pre-order here.
Talking to NME, Simon LeBon enthused about the energy that CHAI had brought to the recording: “They’re a proper Japanese punk band and we had this really great piece of music with quite quirky lyrics and a great chant at the end of it,” said LeBon. “I sounded OK when we sang it, but it really needed something else and we approached Chai. They recorded in Tokyo and I had this live link for the whole recording to give direction. What they’ve added is a sizzling youthfulness that us geezers who have been in Duran Duran for forty odd years need a bit more of.”
The singer also spoke about streaming and the effect it might have on future generations of artists: “It’s so unfair and it’s so wrong – the idea that people can spend nine quid a month and listen to unlimited music worries me for a start because it devalues recorded music. The real practical knock-on effect is that new bands can’t make money unless they play live and during a pandemic no one has been able to do that. There’s going to be a hole in the generation. Music is a form of expression that people who want to do it can’t live without. I’m just so glad that I make music. When we started there just wasn’t as many bands. The competition was nothing like it is now and the focus of attention was much tighter so you could be in the biggest band in the world. I don’t think it would be possible to pick that now.”