The Killers “killed” their new album

The recording has been stopped, the future is unclear, and this is not because of the scandal in Batumi

The other day, American rock stars made noise as headliners at the British festival in Reading. Then there was the release of the single Your Side Of Town, the first new release this year, as well as an unexpected announcement about the suspension of work on the next album. And all this has nothing to do with the scandal at the concert in Batumi.

Your Side Of Town, like last year’s single Boy, is more synth-pop than rock, and for fans of The Killers, this change of “outfit” is no longer a revelation. Musicians have always said that they have been inspired by synth-pop for many years, and even the name of the group, as you know, appeared under the impression of the video for the song Crystal by the legendary British New Order – a fake band called The Killers performs in the video. The course towards synth-pop was set on the album Day & Age (2008), and Your Side Of Town was recorded together with true genre expert and longtime collaborator Stuart Price.

The song turned out not exactly outstanding, but quite coherent and, together with Boy, set the mood for a new album, suitable for dancing with gloomy thoughts – a very typical mood for synth-pop. However, following the release of the song, in an interview with The Times, bandleader Brandon Flowers stated that work on the album was winding down.

“In the middle of recording, I realized that I couldn’t continue,” the musician said. “It just doesn’t work for us, and I don’t think you’ll see us making that kind of music again.” Developing his thoughts, Brandon admitted to the crisis he was going through and said that the attempt to work on new material once again convinced him of his own desire to continue his musical search in a slightly different direction. The album has been designated as a possible reference. pressure machine (2021).

Such a conflict of internal interests in the case of The Killers is perceived more as a normal state of affairs than a hurricane from out of nowhere. Before The Killers, Flowers himself played in a synth band, and the booming stadium sound made according to British patterns was more of a compromise for the sake of the indie rock fashion that was current at the beginning of the 2000s. But what’s done is done. With debut album Hot Fuss (2004) the musicians jumped into the prestigious rock echelon and made a nice noise there.

“There will always be people who will look at me and remember Somebody Told Me (The Killers’ first big rock hit. – “ZD”). And I understand it. But I’m interested in developing, says Brandon. – Of course, I’m proud of the Hot Fuss album, like everyone is proud of what they did at the age of twenty. But now I’m not twenty anymore, so I’m thinking about the next phase of my life.”

Probably, many people are eager to connect the “crisis” in which the musicians found themselves with the recent incident in Batumi, where the band, following their long tradition, brought to the stage a fan who was able to sit on the drums and play along with them. The spontaneous drummer turned out to be Russian, and when it turned out, there was some tension in the hall, and some of the spectators even left the arena. In an attempt to smooth things over, Flowers delivered a typical rock ‘n’ roll speech about how we are all brothers and sisters here and that boundaries should not separate people. However, the desire to arrange fraternization did not really fit into the political context.

After the concert, the group apologized to everyone who was offended by what happened, but in conversations with reporters, Brandon still notes that he is sad about how their tour in Georgia ended. However, the level of this sadness hardly makes sense to perceive as apocalyptic. The musician clearly intends to move on – with or without The Killers, as he already did, releasing solo songs. According to Brandon, he wants to try writing quieter music for smaller spaces, which, of course, sounds very intriguing.

In general, parsimony of comments and vague wording has always been a good practice when rebranding in the pop industry. The fewer words, the more guesses and, accordingly, attention. Of course, fans can’t wait to find out what the quieter music is and where the promised small spaces will be. However, all the talk of big stars about new stages in development rarely canceled hits from the back catalogs. Especially if they still monetize well.