{"id":837,"date":"2015-10-23T11:17:54","date_gmt":"2015-10-23T19:17:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/morganrichter.net\/blog\/?p=837"},"modified":"2023-03-06T12:44:09","modified_gmt":"2023-03-06T20:44:09","slug":"duran-duran-pressure-off","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/morganrichter.net\/blog\/duran-duran-pressure-off\/","title":{"rendered":"Duranalysis: Pressure Off"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Everybody, everywhere, feel it in the air\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Duran Duran just released the video for \u201cPressure Off\u201d, the first single off their new Paper Gods<\/em> album, and it\u2019s a good one; since first viewing it, my fingers have been itching to Duranalyze the crap out of it. \u201cPressure Off\u201d was directed by the band\u2019s frequent collaborator, visual artist\/director Nick Egan, who, in addition to creating the cover art for Duran Duran\u2019s Wedding Album<\/em>, also directed four of their earlier videos: \u201cWhite Lines\u201d, \u201cPerfect Day\u201d, \u201cOrdinary World\u201d, and \u201cAll You Need is Now.\u201d Hey, those are all great songs! And those are all beautifully composed and visually compelling videos! However, while I have Duranalyzed a grand total of twenty-four videos to date, none of the aforementioned have made the cut. You know why? Because Egan doesn\u2019t really do<\/em> plots. His videos for the band, which mostly feature impeccably-shot performance footage mixed with cool visuals, don\u2019t have storylines. Trust me, it\u2019s much easier coming up with a thousand words or so about a video when there\u2019s at least a loose narrative thread to follow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cPressure Off\u201d has no storyline, either, but it\u2019s so damn fun that I\u2019m going to give this a whirl anyway. Here goes:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We open with black-and-white shots of the band performing against a stark white background. Everyone looks good, like they\u2019ve been following sensible diets while getting plenty of sleep and fresh air and exercise. I mean, they probably haven\u2019t\u2014we\u2019re talking about Duran Duran, louche party boys extraordinaire\u2014but they look<\/em> like they\u2019ve been behaving themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Duran<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

(I know, I know. They\u2019re no longer the hilariously decadent and hard-partying twentysomethings of days past. They\u2019re adults<\/em>. They\u2019ve all given up smoking, and at least half of them no longer drink, and the rest of their famous vices were jettisoned years ago. It\u2019s disappointing. If Simon and Nick no longer take their famous portable wine cellar<\/a> along when they go on tour, please don\u2019t tell me. I\u2019d like to cling to some illusions a while longer.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Monsieur Le Bon: fifty-six years old and still smoking hot, thank you very much.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Duran<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Guitar duties for this track are deftly handled by Chic\u2019s Nile Rodgers, who also was one of the album\u2019s co-producers. Nile, of course, has a long and productive history with Duran Duran: He produced \u201cWild Boys\u201d and the Notorious<\/em> album, and he\u2019s the man who gave us the souped-up mix of \u201cThe Reflex\u201d that everyone knows and loves. Man\u2019s a legend. Always good to see you, sir.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Duran<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Guest vocals are provided by the adorable and \u00fcber-talented Janelle Mon\u00e1e, whom I love to pieces for having the great, geeky taste to do an ambitious concept album based on Fritz Lang\u2019s 1927 silent sci-fi masterpiece, Metropolis<\/em>. Anyway, instead of her signature tuxedo, Janelle chose to wear a jacket with one white sleeve for the shoot, which, thanks to the stark white background, means she has no left arm in this video.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Duran<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cPressure Off\u201d is a light, fun, frothy song about easing up and letting things go. In fitting with that theme, it features a bunch of shots of the band members taking gravity-taunting leaps and tumbles through the air. Let\u2019s hear from John Taylor, as quoted on the band\u2019s official site<\/a>, on the genesis of this video: \u201cNick Rhodes had the jumping idea, based on the photographs of Philippe Halsmann<\/a>. It\u2019s what the song is about, leaping into the unknown, taking the plunge, seizing the moment.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Duran<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Well, what do you know? Somewhere along the line, Nick Rhodes apparently stumbled across the concept of fun<\/em>. Remember the old days when Nick would come up with an idea for a video, and his ideas would always be something like, \u201cwe\u2019ll do an homage to Cocteau\u2019s Le Testament de Orph\u00e9e<\/em><\/a>, only we\u2019ll make it more esoteric, and we\u2019ll take ourselves very, very seriously<\/em>\u201d? Don\u2019t get me wrong\u2014Nick being artsy and strange is the kind of stuff I live for, but using Halsmann\u2019s famously cheery, buoyant photos as an inspiration is definitely a sign his obsessive little brain is functioning in a more laid-back groove these days. Even if he still<\/em> constantly looks like he\u2019s trying to shoot deadly laser beams from his eyes at the viewers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Duran<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Holy crap, Nick is dancing<\/em>. Duran Duran\u2019s glacial, glamorous ice prince is bopping around at his keyboard like he doesn\u2019t have a care in the world. What\u2019s going on? What kind of mad, mixed-up world have we entered?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Duran<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Here\u2019s Simon doing his very best impression of Tom Cruise in Top Gun<\/em>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Duran<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Nailed it.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"Top<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

(It\u2019s possible he\u2019s doing his very best impression of David Caruso in CSI: Miami<\/em>, I suppose, but everything I know about Simon suggests he\u2019d pick Maverick over Horatio Caine any day. Simon\u2019s no fool.)<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"David<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Oh, John. I don\u2019t think John got the memo about the pressure being off. He looks very serious and glum, like he\u2019s carrying the weight of the world on his narrow yet attractive shoulders. It\u2019s going to be okay, John, I promise. You\u2019re a world-famous pop icon! You live in a lavish 15th-century manor<\/a> in the English countryside! Your cheekbones still ignite fires in the loins of women around the globe! I promise you, things are not all that bad for you right now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Duran<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Really. Everything\u2019s going to be fine, John. You too, Roger.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Duran<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

No, seriously, John. What\u2019s going on, babe? Talk to me. I\u2019m starting to get concerned.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Duran<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Anybody up for an impromptu Duran Duran striptease? Simon, naturally, is happy to oblige. There goes the jacket.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Duran<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

And<\/em> the scarf.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Duran<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

John tries to get into the spirit of things by, uh, unzipping the sleeve of his leather jacket a bit. Partial credit for effort, John, especially since it looks like you\u2019re maybe starting to think of smiling, just a little.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Duran<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Nick looks into a crystal ball, which is filled with an image of wisps of smoke. Can\u2019t tell that\u2019s Nick? Step back from the screen a few paces and look again. You\u2019ll see it. I mean, it\u2019s a blurry shot, so I suppose that could be anyone, but the blond hair and smudgy dark eyes would seem to indicate our Mr. Rhodes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Duran<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Also\u2026 it\u2019s a crystal ball encased within a metal claw. Of course<\/em> that\u2019s going to belong to Nick. Who else? What, you think John\u2019s going to have one of those lying around his manor? Roger<\/em>? Nope, that\u2019s most definitely Nick\u2019s. Nick, who once quipped to WWD<\/em><\/a> that his pre-bed ritual involved \u201ca small goblet of virgin\u2019s blood\u201d; Nick, who, years after the buzz about Second Life had run its course, still clung to the dream, probably because he\u2019d designed himself a super-pretty Goth avatar. Claw-encased crystal orbs are right up his alley.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Oh, look. Yep, there it is. Nick owns a staff topped with a claw-encased crystal ball, quelle surprise<\/em>. The coat\u2019s pretty fabulous, too. Never stop being you, Nick.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Duran<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

That\u2019s\u2026 not how you should treat a guitar.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Duran<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

There<\/em> we go, John! Look at that gorgeous smile!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Duran<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

And in the closing seconds, now that the pressure really is<\/em> off, Roger, who otherwise keeps a very low profile throughout this video, finally breaks into a wide, sunny grin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Duran<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Nicely done, everyone. Take a bow; you\u2019ve earned some applause.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Everybody, everywhere, feel it in the air\u2026 Duran Duran just released the video for \u201cPressure Off\u201d, the first single off their new Paper Gods album, and it\u2019s a good one; since […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":840,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-837","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-duran-duran"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/morganrichter.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/837","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/morganrichter.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/morganrichter.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/morganrichter.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/morganrichter.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=837"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"http:\/\/morganrichter.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/837\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1550,"href":"http:\/\/morganrichter.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/837\/revisions\/1550"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/morganrichter.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/840"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/morganrichter.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=837"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/morganrichter.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=837"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/morganrichter.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=837"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}