Back in the day, Brandon Flowers dressed like a cowboy in the now-iconic clip for The Killers’ “All These Things I’ve Done.”
Two decades later, he’s come full circle, excavating his country roots on his just-announced new solo album, “Thrasher,” his first in 11 years, out on Aug. 21.
Recorded in Nashville, Tennessee, at Historic RCA Studio A, where Dolly Parton tracked “Jolene,” Elvis cut “Are You Lonesome Tonight?” and other greats like George Strait, Loretta Lynn and Willie Nelson have laid down tracks over the years, “Thrasher” features a decorated crew of Music City notables, including longtime Gillian Welch collaborator David Rawlings on guitar, influential pedal steel player Bruce Bouton, and 85-year-old harmonica player Charlie McCoy, who performed on all four of Bob Dylan’s seminal Nashville records.
“Thrasher” was produced by Shawn Everett and Jonathan Rado, the team behind the last two Killers albums, 2020’s “Imploding the Mirage” and 2021’s “Pressure Machine.”
The latter record was set in the small town of Nephi, Utah, where Flowers spent a half-dozen of his formative years from age 10 to 16. Its earthy, Americana bent, with mandolin, pedal steel and harmonica flourishes, and stories of the trials and tribulations of rural life in modern America tapped into a rich, personal vein of songwriting for Flowers, which informs “Thrasher.”
His dad’s love of Johnny Cash and Waylon Jennings also played a role.
“As I’ve gotten older, I’ve found my way back to my father’s music — ‘Country-Western’ (as he called it) — and discovered that the stories I carry really feel most at home in the skin of this beautiful American tradition,” Flowers says in a news release.
As Flowers told The U.K. Sun this year, he has a pair of solo albums complete, “Thrasher” being the first, and expects a return with The Killers in 2027.
Get a first taste of “Thrasher” on Friday, when lead single “Plans” drops.
Contact Jason Bracelin at [email protected] or 702-383-0476. Follow @jasonbracelin76 on Instagram.
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‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source neon.reviewjournal.com ’
