Brandon Flowers has shared another new solo single, ‘Tiger’s Blood’ – you can listen to it below.
- READ MORE: Brandon Flowers talks new solo and Killers music – and the power of Springsteen and Oasis
The track is the third taste of the Killers frontman’s third solo album, ‘Thrasher’, which is out on August 21 via Island. He released the first track, ‘Plans’, in June before dropping ‘Paradise’ last month.
‘Tiger’s Blood’ is a driving and nostalgic Bruce Springsteen-esque anthem that packs a bigger punch than Flowers’ previous two offerings.
“The last thing that I heard/ You were doing OK/ We took different roads to heal the hurt/ Not fade away,” he sings in the widescreen chorus. “The things that we can’t explain/ Roll on like a runaway train/ Into the fire and out of the frame/ Wild and gone like a runaway train.”
Elsewhere, he recalls a “disposable Kodak memory” and remembers a “new kid in the county“.
Flowers debuted his latest single at the Newport Folk Festival recently, where he also aired some Killers classics and performed with Lucy Dacus and Nathaniel Rateliff.
Recorded in Nashville, the country-inspired ‘Thrasher’ was made with the singer’s longtime producers Shawn Everett and Jonathan Rado, as well as guitarist David Rawlings, pedal steel player Bruce Bouton, and 85-year-old Charlie McCoy (the harmonica player who featured on all four of Bob Dylan’s Nashville records).
The upcoming record delves into Flowers’ early years, spending his childhood in the small town of Nephi, Utah. He looks back on how his father would drive him around the countryside listening to Johnny Cash and Waylon Jennings on the project.
‘Thrasher’ is said to find the vocalist at his most personal and vulnerable, while exploring a chapter of his life that he’s rarely written about before, and reminiscing about these formative years.
“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 said previously.
He’ll take ‘Thrasher’ out on a UK, Ireland and North American solo tour later this year. The run of dates features a performance at the historic Royal Albert Hall in London in October. Find any remaining tickets here (UK and Ireland) and here (North America).
Speaking to NME last year, Flowers spoke about his plans for two new solo albums, describing the first one as more of a “step backwards” from his 2015 record ‘The Desired Effect’.
“It’s more in the [2010 debut] ‘Flamingo’ direction,” he told us. “I made two South West records, if you want to know the truth. One is a romantic South West record, and the other is a narrative South West record which picks up where ‘Pressure Machine’ left off.
“I’m thrilled about both of them, and they’ll both come out before the next Killers record – but I’m thrilled about the next Killers record.”
As for future material from the Las Vegas group, Flowers told NME it was “a little too early to say” what their next era would sound like.
However, he revealed that they wouldn’t be returning to the slick, synth-y style of their recent Stuart Price-produced singles ‘Boy’, ‘Your Side Of Town’ and ‘Spirit’ from greatest hits compilation ‘Rebel Diamonds’.
“We will not put it out unless it is the best,” the frontman said. “We’ve already discussed it. It’s gotta be so good or it’s not worth it.” He then confirmed that the new music would feature “all four members”, after they reunited for the 2024 track ‘Bright Lights’.
‘Boy’, ‘Your Side Of Town’ and Spirit’ were initially intended for a new Killers album, but the project was ultimately scrapped because it didn’t feel “authentic”.
In other news, Flowers has revealed that he has considered quitting music. “I’m really going through it right now: how much longer do I want to do this, what does it mean, why am I doing it anyway?” he explained.
In 2023, he told The Times that he was in a “crisis” as he struggled to decide which direction to take The Killers in next.
