"We didn't even approach a couple of the big labels because we felt they are too swamped," explains Rhodes, one of band's two remaining original members. "We just got out of one [record deal with Capitol], who mishandled our career very badly for a few years, and we wanted a small team of smart people, who live music, who understand what the hell's going on in the world, and know a decent song when they hear one -- and that's exactly what Hollywood have got."

The group is currently on a month-long U.S. tour in support of absolutely nothing, though it's using the occasion to road test new material from the forthcoming Pop Trash, due out either this November or next January.

"[Pop Trash] is very different from [1997's] Medazzaland," says Rhodes. "The songs are slightly more traditional, meaning they're very strong melodies and sound arrangements...and not as brittle as Medazzaland. It's a much warmer sound and it's not as abstract, I suppose."

When not recording and touring for Duran Duran, Rhodes and guitarist Warren Cuccurullo are involved in two projects. The first, TV Mania, is a musical cyber-soap opera trilogy entitled Bored with Prozac and the Internet?, the first "episode" of which will be released next spring. The second project is Lo-Fi, a new U.K.-based record label in search of a distribution deal.