Mark Ronson and Janelle Monae also turn up on the immortal pop group’s 14th studio album.
Duran Duran have revealed the stellar cast of collaborators appearing on their forthcoming full-length Paper Gods. Reformed mean girl Lindsay Lohan is the biggest surprise of the bunch, but there’s more high-wattage celebrity dazzle with the inclusion of pop polymath Janelle Monáe (on the first single, ‘Pressure Off’), former Red Hot Chili Peppers guitarist-turned-acid house enthusiast John Frusciante, ‘Hideaway’ singer Kiesza, British singer-songwriter Mr Hudson and violinist Davidé Rossi.
The album was recorded in London with disco legend Nile Rodgers and chart-botherers Mark Ronson and Mr Hudson at the helm alongside engineer Josh Blair and Mark ‘Spike’ Stent. According to bassist John Taylor, Paper Gods “really goes back to that strange early Duran mix: the hard-edged pop, coexisting with this dark, weird, experimental side.”
Keyboardist Nick Rhodes adds: “It’s great to be able to lift people’s spirits — and your own — with a strong shot of pure pop, but the world we live in isn’t all just made of that stuff, so it seems natural to me that we have kept one foot in the darker, more Gothic side of life.”
The album is due September 18 in the US and September 11 in the rest of the world via Warner Bros. Records. In the meantime Duran Duran have also announced a series of summer festival dates and several shows in the US in September and October (including some dates with Chic), followed by a UK arena tour in late November.
Tour dates:
06/20 Barcelona, Spain Sonar by Night Festival
06/27 The Hague, Netherlands Night At The Park
06/28 Kerry, Ireland Killarney Festival
08/05 Riverhead, NY FOLD Festival
08/06 Bethlehem, PA Musikfest – ArtsQuest Center
09/01 Ibiza Heart at the Ibiza Gran Hotel
09/05 Gibraltar Gibraltar Music Festival
09/11 Isle of Wight, UK Bestival @ Robin Hill Park
09/20 Morrison, CO Red Rocks Amphitheatre ***
09/23 Puyallup, WA Washington State Fair *
09/25 Reno, NV Grand Theatre – Grand Sierra Resort & Casino **
09/26 Las Vegas, NV Life is Beautiful Festival
09/27 San Diego, CA Cal Coast Union Open Air Theatre**
10/01 Los Angeles, CA Hollywood Bowl ***
10/02 San Francisco, CA The Greek Theatre, Berkeley ***
10/03 Rancho Mirage, CA The Show Agua CalienteCasino**
11/27 Manchester, UK Manchester Arena
11/28 Leeds, UK First Direct Arena
11/30 Cardiff, UK Motorpoint Arena
12/02 Brighton, UK Brighton Centre
12/04 Birmingham, UK Genting Arena
12/05 Newcastle, UK Metro Radio Arena
12/06 Glasgow, Scotland The SSE Hydro
12/08 London, UK The O2
12/09 Bournemouth, UK Bournemouth International Centre
12/11 Nottingham, UK Capital FM Arena
12/12 Liverpool, UK Echo Arena
* w/ CHIC featuring Nile Rodgers
** w/ Clean Bandit
*** w/ CHIC featuring Nile Rodgers & Clean Bandit