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HOW WAS Sometimes it’s IT FOR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . tough . . . . . . . . . . . . me to be . . . . . . .YOU? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . for . ON AIRING NEW SONG ‘RUN FOR COVER’:
“It feels like – what do they say? - an old hat. ‘Run For Cover’ is very Killers-esque and it’s an older song so it sort of eases itself into the setlist.”
ON BRINGING WOODY HARRELSON OUT ON STAGE: “It was probably a little bit of, ‘What the heck?’ moment for the audience!”
ON PLAYING ‘ANDY, YOU’RE A STAR’ FOR THE FIRST TIME IN AGES:
“That felt good. It’s funny, my fingers just seem to find their way around the old songs even though they’re that old. After you practice them a couple times, they just seep back in. It’s nice to dust them off.”
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We sat down with Brandon right after the band came off stage, so we thought it only right to ask: what was it like for them?
ironic because I have such a sincere voice. Brandon Flowers
initially took these long breaks to give Mark and Dave a longer space between records so they’d be refreshed and rejuvenated and have the time that they needed to do it again,” he explains. It’s been a little over a year since bassist Mark Stoermer announced he would no longer tour with the band, while guitarist Dave Keuning’s decision to leave the live side – both members still plan to write and record – is still fresh news. “Obviously, that still wasn’t quite going to solve the problem and so it’s a little frustrating,” the frontman confirms. “I mean, I wouldn’t have made those solo records... With the records [2010’s
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‘Flamingo’ and its 2015 follow-up ‘The Desired Effect’] I made, I’m proud of the work that I did with them, but I was doing it to give [Mark and Dave] a break. I wasn’t doing it for vanity and there wasn’t some itch I needed to scratch. I would prefer that I was talking to you about the eighth Killers record.” Despite dealing with a change that would fracture many other bands, The Killers still feel strong. Ever a changing beast, over the past fifteen years the group have managed to serve up a wealth of indie anthems, all while continually shifting the goalposts and growing even mightier. One quick glance across their discography and it’s no wonder they’ve been headlining festivals for almost a decade. It was in their introduction to their latest album, though, that they showed off one of their most bombastic and unexpected moves so far: ‘The Man’. “Sometimes it’s tough for me to be ironic because I have such a sincere voice,” Brandon laughs. Perhaps their boldest, sassiest track to date, it’s a song dripping with charismatic naivety, harking back to a version of his younger self. It was also accompanied by a video full of brilliantly over-thetop examples of masculinity at large, Brandon’s character taking on casinos, pumping iron and surrounding himself with women. “I think it’s working with ‘The Man’ though,” he grins, “I think people are getting it. It brings a little
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