A new Marmaduke Duke album is nearly finished, says Biffy Clyro's Simon Neil
Biffy Clyro frontman Simon Neil has revealed that work on a long-awaited new album by his side-project Marmaduke Duke is nearing completion.
Formed of Neil, aka ‘The Atmosphere’, and JP ‘The Dragon’ Reid of Sucioperro, the fancy-dress-loving, experimental electro-rock duo released their 18-track debut ‘The Magnificent Duke’ in 2005 before finding mainstream success with 2009’s ‘Duke Pandemonium‘.
Speaking to NME for this week’s Big Read cover story, Neil revealed that Marmaduke Duke have been “so close to finishing a new record for about two years”
“We’ve got eight songs, with two more to go, and it’s called ‘The Death Of The Duke’,” Neil told NME. “Some of it sounds like [’90s industrial heroes] Ministry and some it sounds like Katy Perry. It’s fucked-up and all over the place. I can’t wait for people to hear it.”
He continued: “When the lockdown started, before we [were] told to stay indoors, we had a full week planned to finish the album at the end of March. It got pulled away from us, but it will definitely be coming. Expect a bunch of real grown men wearing hot pants. It’s not going to be great but you’re going to want to see it.”
Looking back on their last shows in 2009, Neil said: “I remember during our Leeds Festival set when I went out of the tent and ordered a hot dog in my mask. I was thinking it would frighten this lady but obviously at Reading and Leeds you’ve seen everything and nothing phases you. I remember crawling under the stage and getting trapped. It was so loud and I swear to God, I was hallucinating from the volume. It was the longest two minutes of my life.
“We normally do about half a dozen shows for each album, so we’ll probably do that again when we release it.”
While gearing up to release ‘A Celebration Of Endings’ with Biffy Clyro this summer, Neil also said that he’s a working on “glitchy drone project” called Tippie Toes and “a grindcore record in the vein of Napalm Death”.
As well as discussing the inspiration behind ‘A Celebration Of Endings’, Neil also opened up about the coronavirus lockdown, his thoughts on “growing old disgracefully”, and why “Boris Johnson is a heinous lump of beef”. Read the full Big Read interview here.
Having shared new single ‘Tiny Indoor Fireworks‘, Biffy Clyro will release ‘A Celebration Of Endings’ on August 14.
