The Secret He Couldn't Write Until 45: Brandon Flowers' New Album Digs Up Childhood Shadows
The Killers frontman Brandon Flowers drops his third solo album, "Thrasher," on August 21. For the first time, he opens up about the domestic violence and drug use he witnessed growing up, and reveals that "Miss America" — a song written for his sister — only made the cut after she gave her blessing.
For years, Brandon Flowers has described his upbringing as "Rockwellian" — a Norman Rockwell-style slice of American pastoral life: church on Sundays, family dinners together, rounds of golf with dad. That's true, but it's not the whole picture. In interviews for his new album, he's opening up about the other side for the first time: "There was substance abuse, there was domestic violence, there was physical altercations. I did grow up around that. And those things stay with you."
This is his third solo album, "Thrasher," out this Friday (August 21). The material draws on his childhood in rural Utah and the Johnny Cash and Waylon Jennings his dad always had playing in the car. That American country lineage traces back to The Killers' 2006 album "Sam's Town" and carries forward the "Southwestern" narrative tone of the band's 2021 record "Pressure Machine." "I loved making 'Pressure Machine' so much, I didn't want to leave it," he says. "But I didn't think it should be a Killers album, so I pulled the lens in closer — this time it's my immediate family."
At 45, he explains why now: "I don't think I had the capacity to write these songs earlier on. It's not that I didn't want to — I couldn't do it justice. It's an evolution of my craft. I was finally ready."
The album includes a song written for his sister, "Miss America." Flowers says it felt like a responsibility — "you don't want to mess up her story." He played it for her first: "If she hated it, if she didn't want it out there, I wasn't going to release it" — which brought back memories of the intimate moments he used to share, playing songs for his wife before anyone else heard them.
The album was recorded in Nashville with longtime collaborators producers Shawn Everett and Jonathan Rado, bringing in guitarist David Rawlings, pedal steel player Bruce Bouton, and 85-year-old harmonica player Charlie McCoy — who played on four of Bob Dylan's Nashville-era albums. Flowers describes the humbling experience of playing alongside them: "I thought I was kind of a big deal, having headlined Glastonbury and sold out arenas, but the second I walked into that studio, none of that mattered." He even joked: "This album should be called 'Charlie McCoy featuring Brandon Flowers' — his melodic lines are just too good."
The Next "More Romantic" Sister Album Will Tackle Loneliness
Flowers already told NME last year that "Thrasher" is actually the first of two new albums he's planning. The next one, made with the same crew, will be "less country, but still country-leaning" — he cites Tom Petty or The Traveling Wilburys as reference points. "I see it as a response to the epidemic of loneliness," he says. "We're isolating ourselves, and we're losing the beautiful things that make us human — falling in love when you're young, that's what keeps the world turning."
The Killers' New Album Is Still Being Written — Everyone Wants More Time With Family
Asked about progress on the band's next studio album, Flowers says it's "not in the can yet," but the guys have been happy to fly out to Salt Lake City to write songs and work on demos. The reason is simple: drummer Ronnie Vannucci Jr.'s kids are still young, guitarist Dave Keuning's son is now grown, and Flowers himself is at a stage where he "wants to make it home for dinner as much as possible." He also mentioned he's already started working with producer Ariel Rechtshaid. As for the 20th anniversary of "Sam's Town" that fans are curious about, he says there's no special plan for now — "maybe we'll do something for the 25th."
