Listen to Charli XCX and Simon Le Bon’s collaboration, ‘Kingdom’

The most ‘Bloody Hell’ on-paper collaboration to appear on Lorde’s ‘The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1’ soundtrack has emerged. Charli XCX and Duran Duran’s Simon Le Bon have collaborated for the surprisingly minimal ‘Kingdom’.

With Charli on lead, the track is a serene contrast to her forthcoming album ‘Sucker’ and all the ‘Boom Clap’, ‘Fancy’ hurrah of the past year. Simon Le Bon’s contribution is spared for a grandly-declared coda, a suitably cheesy addition for a song that treats itself seriously but totally isn’t.

Speaking to Pitchfork about the collaboration, Charli very openly said: “If I’m being honest, I’m a fan, but not the world’s #1 fan. It was definitely exciting to be working with someone who’s iconic and from a different time than me, though. That was something Ella [Yelich-O’Connor, aka Lorde] felt really strong about—bringing in another time period. We spoke about a lot of different people, and Simon seemed like the right one, so we were excited when he said yes.”

‘The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1’ soundtrack is out 18th November. So far we’ve heard ‘Kingdom’, a Lorde, Pusha T, Q-Tip and Haim collab, CHVRCHES’ ‘Dead Air’, Lorde’s ‘Yellow Flicker Beat’ and a smooth Kanye remix of that track.