Brandon Flowers announces return with new album ‘THRASHER’
The Killers’ vocalist unveils his first album in 11 years, alongside new single ‘Plans’ and a UK/Ireland tour this autumn.
Photo: Chris Phelps
He’s back. Everyone’s favourite immortal superstar, Mr. Fabulous Las Vegas himself, is back. Brandon Flowers has dusted off the spurs ahead of his upcoming third album, THRASHER.
His first solo material since 2015’s The Desired Effect, the announcement offers up an amuse bouche with new track Plans. Somewhere between long-noted influences Springsteen and Lucinda Williams, Plans is a play on The Killers’ latter-day country epoch, reflecting on Flowers’ past while maintaining a rocksteady, heel-tapping backbeat. There’s plenty of harmonica provided by Charlie McCoy, too, the legendary musician who featured on all four of Bob Dylan’s Nashville records.
Flowers is taking his new album on the road this autumn, announcing a string of shows across North America, and a UK and Ireland tour in October. Flowers will be bringing THRASHER to the flock from Bournemouth to Glasgow, including a special show at London’s iconic Royal Albert Hall on October 15th.
Flowers’ solo work has often carried a natural throughline from his work with The Killers. His solo debut, 2010’s Flamingo, is full of dazzling heartland indie rock that’s fittingly sandwiched between Day of Age’s Human and 2012’s driving Battle Born. It has that signature, classic Killers sound. The Desired Effect, released five years later, goes a step further into the unknown, delivering thoughtful electro-pop pieces reminiscent of Wonderful Wonderful, which would drop in 2017.
The Killers’ latest effort, Pressure Machine, is an intimate, country-tinged slice of Flowers’ childhood and, if the new single is anything to go by, THRASHER follows suit. Promising ‘honky tonk ragers, highway rambles and winsome ballads’, THRASHER might not offer fanatics of Flowers’ previous work what they wanted. But, if the American heartthrob has proven anything over the last few decades, he can bend any kind of rock to his will and have a hell of a lot of fun doing it.
Tracklist:
Does It Ever Cross Your Mind?
One Of Us
Tiger’s Blood
Plans
Paradise
Miss America
Angel
The Red Ground
In A Heartbeat
An American Dream
THRASHER is out August 21st via Island Records. Pre-order the album here.
