Kaiser Chiefs team up with Duran Duran
With songs like Ruby, I Predict A Riot, and Never Miss A Beat, British rockers Kaiser Chiefs have proved they know how to write a catchy hit with a big chorus.
Now their chief song-writer, drummer Nick Hodgson, is helping UK 80s sensations Duran Duran write material for their new album.
Hodgson was brought into the studio with Simon Le Bon and co by producer Mark Ronson, who worked on the Kaiser Chiefs' last album Off With Their Heads.
The Kaiser Chiefs landed in Australia this week ahead of a national tour and V Festival performances.
Hodgson said he was still coming to terms with the fact he was working with the band behind Rio and Girls on Film.
"I've been listening to a lot of Duran Duran on a flight I've just taken, and they are very interesting songs really," Hodgson told AAP.
"I always liked them. It seems so strange to be talking about it."
Ronson has compared Kaiser Chiefs to Duran Duran, telling NME "there's a lot of Kaiser Chiefs songs I could imagine being on a Duran Duran record 25 years ago".
It is the first time Hodgson has written with anyone other than Kaiser Chiefs singer Ricky Wilson, but he said he didn't change his songwriting style for the collaboration.
"I had to think to myself, 'right, do I care whether they like me?" he said.
"I had to make that decision in my head before because I kept thinking, 'I could just be quiet and not be myself, but then we wouldn't get anything done'.
"So I was willing to sacrifice being popular for actually getting something done. But I think it was quite a nice balance really."
Kaiser Chiefs are riding high at the moment.
They released their third album late last year, and say their latest tour has been their biggest and best yet.
In Australia Never Miss A Beat is currently being used in Network Ten's AFL promos, and they are looking forward to playing to thousands of fans around the country over the next week.
But after wrapping up their international touring commitments, the band are looking to taking a break for the first time in five years.
"Let's call it a holiday," Hodgson said.
"As soon as one of us said we were taking a break the papers in England said we were splitting up, so we call it a holiday now.
"I'm going to sit in the garden and feed the birds and survey what I have created."

