Duran Duran Give Talking Heads’ ‘Psycho Killer’ a New Wave Chill on Spooky ‘Danse Macabre’ Cover

Your perfect Halloween soundtrack has just arrived courtesy of Duran Duran. The veteran new wave group dropped their delightfully devilish cover of the Talking Heads’ 1977 classic “Psycho Killer” on Tuesday (Oct. 24).

The song — which features bass from Måneskin’s Victoria De Angelis — appears on their upcoming 13-song Dance Macabre album, which features some spooky originals (“Nightboat,” “Black Moonlight,” “Love Voudou,” “Secret Oktober 31st,” “Confessions in the Afterlife”) alongside covers of songs by Billie Eilish (“Bury a Friend”), the Rolling Stones (“Paint It Black”), Siouxsie and the Banshees (“Spellbound”), The Specials (“Ghost Town”) and others.

The band make the song their own, thanks to bassist John Taylor’s funky, elastic bass lines, Andy Taylor’s quick-strum guitar and singer Simon Le Bon’s signature yearning — in this case somewhat haunted — vocals.

Speaking about the album in a press release, keyboardist Nick Rhodes said it “gathers together an unusual mix of cover versions, reworked Duran Duran songs and several new compositions. The idea was born out of a show we played in Las Vegas on October 31st, 2022. We had decided to seize the moment to create a unique, special event…the temptation of using glorious gothic visuals set to a dark soundtrack of horror and humor was simply irresistible.”

In a statement, De Angelis described the origins of her collaboration with the “Rio” legends. “I got a call from John [Taylor]…saying he was working on a cover of ‘Psycho Killer,’ and he wanted to ask me first about playing on it,” De Angelis said. “It was insane being asked by one of the greatest bass players ever to play one of my favorite songs with Duran Duran. Absolutely insane.”

Danse Macabre is out on Friday (Oct. 27).

Listen to Duran Duran’s “Psycho Killer” cover below.