Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10
The future is unwritten, the past has had its say, and yet the present, the moment we inhabit, is as blind to us as the hidden depths of the sea, or the infinite vagaries of what lays beyond our comprehension as more of the universe is revealed.
What we do understand is just how important the moment to us is, that whilst we have a form of time travel in being able to recall personal history with a kind of vivid form of entitlement, and look to the days ahead with wide-eyed optimism, the moment offers a myriad of confusing emotions to which we place the significance of certain events, of potential high points, as being the most important way to spend the day.
The Future Past, a toe dip into what has been, but with the expectation that the moment will bring fortune, will offer potential, and unhindered belief and memory, and to one which Duran Duran have fully immersed themselves into as they look to their own future as they release their fifteenth studio album, Future Past.
The cover of an album is quite often significant in the way the listener sees the release, and it is to the photography of Daisuke Yokota that entices the aural lover into this new kingdom within the complete realm of one of Birmingham’s finest musical exports.
The significance of the album’s artwork more than alludes to the mystery that awaits within, the fear of having once stood still long enough to go backwards, the pulse that you feel by soldiering on, by running so hard, so fast, that the emotional crisis that is breathing down your neck is at least always a footstep away, and it is that end that the album that reunites Simon Le Bon, Nick Rhodes, Roger Taylor and John Taylor together again after six years since the release of Paper Gods, is one of immediate satisfaction and hints of a previous period in time.
Across tracks such as All Of You, Anniversary, Velvet Newton, Tonight United, and Laughing Boy, the knowledge that there is no single stand out dominating song, but instead a series of musical passions all combining to give the Birmingham band their due deference, is one of great pleasure. This maturity of belief, of weaving the magic of a long career together, is palpable, it is strength in numbers, and it wonderfully daring. This is an album that has moved the band on once more, not for them the art of standing still and resting on laurels, but instead progressive, developing, a broadcast of increasing groove and style.
The Future Past, it shines with fearsome pop industry, and whilst we must always enthuse about the new artists coming through, we must also remember, and pay homage, to those that built the road they stride upon, especially when they get it so right.
Ian D. Hall