From radio.com:

By Annie Reuter
The collaborations are lengthy on Duran Duran‘s upcoming 14th studio album, Paper Gods.

The band will release the album on Sept. 11 and in addition to previously known collaborations with Nile Rodgers, former Red Hot Chili Peppers‘ guitarist John Frusciante and Mark Ronson, the LP features special guests Janelle Monáe, Kiesza, Mr Hudson, violinist Davidé Rossi and, yes, Lindsay Lohan.

“We found a whole new level of inspiration on this album,” Nick Rhodes said in a press release.

Meanwhile, John Taylor said that the album goes back “to that strange early Duran mix: the hard-edged pop, coexisting with this dark, weird, experimental side.”

“That’s something that’s essential to all of us,” he added. “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.”

In promotion of the album, Duran Duran will hit the road in September for select dates in the U.S.:

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 Caliente Casino

Bump: Added cover image and pre-order links to the first post. The domestic releases will be out on September 18th.

Have a listen to the first preview track from the album:

Picked up the Target Exclusive version on my lunch hour, which has 2 different bonus tracks than the deluxe edition.

It's...interesting. Not yet sure if that's a good thing. But the most surprising aspect is the lack of guitar. Which is weird, given that they hype the guest appearances by Nile Rodgers and John Frusciante. But if the liner notes are to be believed, there's only guitar on 4 of the 12 main tracks. My first listen seems to bear this out.

"Pressure Off" is a decent DD/Rodgers collaboration, but only on the level of a "Notorious" album track. It's suspiciously similar to last album's "Safe."

The big musical theme is EDM. It almost seems like an Arcadia reunion, because it's mostly Simon, Nick and Roger. It would not not surprise me if John's main contribution on some tracks was backing vocals, as buried as the bass guitar is in the mix.

That said, there are some really great songs here. "Face For Today" has a fantastic melody, and the strings work surprisingly well for such an uptempo tune. "Danceophobia" has the infamous Lindsay Lohan spoken part, but I kinda dig it.

The real winners are "Butterfly Girl," which has a great co-lead vocal by Anna Ross (who's toured with them for the last 8 or 10 years) that's very reminiscent of Tessa Niles on "Come Undone", and "Sunset Garage" which is a feel-good summer song that should have been a single three months ago.

So far, so good here. Not loving it yet, but I am liking more than I am not on first listen. Definitely agree on the EDM, largely devoid of guitar sounds. Definitely not an album I believe Andy would have been down with. And yet it sounds like Duran Duran, while still being a significant departure from AYNIN and the other post-reunion records.

Looks like John plays keyboards as well, based on their "Today" show performance.

http://www.today.com/video/duran-duran- ... 7299139741

Duran Duran are on Ellen today.

Why has there been so little buzz about this album?

There is also an Amazon exclusive autographed version of the Deluxe edition:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0178W1UK6/?tag=imwan-20