More Joy

Album: Future Past (2021)
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Songfacts®:

  • This idiosyncratic disco-pop song with a Japanese flavor originated in a jam session between Duran Duran, Blur's Graham Coxon, and London-basedDJ/producer Erol Alkan. Simon Le Bon improvised quirky lyrics centered on the chant of "more joy." Duran Duran's keyboardist, Nick Rhodes, said:

    "It was such an unusual piece we weren't quite sure if it would fit in at first. It reminded me of one of those retro Japanese video games, which I always found quite uplifting. We came up with the chant "more joy" early on, and that became the key to the rest of the track."
  • Rhodes recommended adding some Japanese female voices to give it a J-pop flavor. Le Bon suggested that Chai, an all-girl punk band from Nagoya, Japan, would bring some energy and sense of fun to the track.

    LeBon told NME Chai laid down their vocals in Tokyo as the Duran Duran singer gave them direction via a live link. "What they've added is a sizzling youthfulness that us geezers who have been in Duran Duran for 40-odd years need a bit more of," he said.
  • Duran Duran released "More Joy" as the second single from Future Past. The band are longtime admirers of Japanese artist Daisuke Yokota so they hired him to create the front cover of the album. Rhodes first met Yokota when he was in Japan making a documentary on postwar photography.

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