Aside from a new Duran Duran album, there could be no sweeter music to my ears than John Taylor’s latest Katy Kafe. Covering a wide range of topics. John sounded more open, relaxed and happy than he has appeared in months. He was very optimistic about the band’s work in progress, saying that “the end of the tunnel is in sight” and he would be returning to London for the next four weeks while the album is completed. “There may be something to hear by the end of the year,” meaning not that will be complete by then, but perhaps the fans will be offered some snippets or song titles (to which I believe we were given a few maddening clues in the last set of studio photos).

Much of John’s enthusiasm surprisingly stemmed from last month’s corporate gigs. I’ve long maintained that such commitments are beneficial for the band, not just as a way to fatten their pocketbooks but also as a forcing-function to stay in musical shape during off-times. John said that the Hampton Palace and Moscow gigs “put us all back together” and “changed the energy of the project.” These were words we needed to hear from John, echoing the recent sentiments of excitement put forth by Nick and Roger. Now if we could just hear from Simon, I’ll finally get a good night’s sleep.

John also spoke fondly about his recent side projects with the New Roads School and Swahili Blonde, and perhaps a bit too fondly about the recent EMI reissues. I’m not saying that he was insincere about how “fantastic” they are and how he was “knocked out by the presentation” of the first three albums, but he did seem to lay it on a bit thick, especially since there has been so much outcry from the fans about sound quality issues and packaging missteps. His enthusiasm, though always charming, seemed a bit funny in juxtaposition to Nick’s recent remark that the Arcadia reissue was a “pig’s ear.” Perhaps John’s ebullience had something to do with his rather candid remarks about the band’s desire to be reunited with their catalogue, going so far as to say that they were going to try to make a deal with EMI.

Currently, EMI is in massive debt due to the overall climate in the music industry as well as a 2007 takeover. On June 18th, the company announced an important strategic shift and major changes in management. As stated in the press release, EMI is now making a concerted effort to reposition itself as a “comprehensive music rights management company that can take full advantage of all global opportunities in all markets for music.” A rough translation from The Economist: owning and exploiting the copyrights to songs, rather than selling recordings of songs, is where the money is going to be from now on.

In light of this new direction and with fingers crossed that EMI can pull it off, I trust John when he says that going with EMI makes good business sense. The company that owns most of Duran’s back catalogue is a good choice, first and foremost due to the fact that they are already invested in the brand of the band. Additionally, it’s not just about past releases, as EMI will also need to constantly keep expanding their catalogue of marketable music. Because of this, I believe that such an all-encompassing concern would bode well for key promotion of future releases as well.

A friend of mine eloquently provided some thoughts on the topic in a post on the Duran Duran Message Board. He said, “In this day and age, a band’s previous work is equally as much a part of their image as anything they might be currently doing. Arguably the advent of the CD brought all this into being. Up until then, bands were a straight line, with the past being something that was back in the distance and what they were up to right now –  the development of their art – being what was most crucial. However, once the CD came out and labels started promoting the re-release of albums that were twenty or so years old, everything became jumbled up. For a while, Led Zeppelin almost became a new band again, and Jimi Hendrix is far from dead.”

“Duran are shrewd enough to try and walk the fine line between old band cashing in and heritage act using their past as leverage. JT has clearly been the one that has embraced the possibilities since getting his head back together. Possibly, this was due to  him leaving the band and achieving some perspective. he could see that the time was right to get the original five back together, and in a way, has turned into the band’s curator. He documented the past through his writing on TTP.com and his short-lived Vault project, and it seems as if he can bring the same level of fandom to Duran as the fans. It’s as if JT can stand back and treat his own band with the same kind of reverence as with the bands he adores: Roxy, Bowie, etc. It’s a creative approach to nostalgia. You can’t run from it, and you can’t NOT trade on it as it’s a basic value… but you CAN harness it and work with it in such a way to maximize it’s worth.” For me, these words brought a lot of perspective.

Overall, I think the glimpses we’ve been given in the past few weeks show that the band is on a wave of momentum and energy. They’ve got a few more weeks together in the studio, and it seems like they’re in a positive and focused mind-space. The band is working hard to make this album the “cracker” that it needs to be, and all the crucial elements for success are starting to fall into place. As John said in the Kafe, “People need to use the machine.” Let’s just hope that this time around they make the machine work for them.