Hey, you: The Killers are back and they are not messing about.

Except with this conch shell, for reasons unknown

It doesn't seem like five years since The Killers last released an album, possibly because Mr Brightside is still one of the UK's most-streamed songs of all time - but, yes, a cursory glance at Wikipedia confirms they've been on a self-imposed hiatus since 2012's Battle Born.

That all ends TODAY, with the premiere of their new single The Man. "It's pretty funky," Brandon Flowers told Annie Mac, who premiered the song earlier tonight. "Funkier than anything we've ever done before."

He's not wrong. The Man is a strutting peacock of a song, that delves deep into the new-wavey, 1980s references The Killers plundered so well on Hot Fuss - the choppy guitars of Talking Heads, the synth stylings of New Order, and the sugar rush choruses of imperial phase Duran Duran. There's even a nod to the late, great David Bowie ("Faaaaame!"), whose Hunky Dory Brandon once referred to as, "the most important record to me, ever."

But amidst that pile-up of influence, The Man is 100% The Killers and, in a way I couldn't have imagined, a stunning return to form. Judging by the lyrics, Brandon knows it:

I got gas in the tank
I got money in the bank
I got news for you baby
You're looking at the man."
Even though the chorus is almost 100% tongue-in-cheek (compared to, say, the hollow self-aggrandisement of DJ Khaled's The One), you can't deny he's got his swagger back*.

Amazing.


* Or is the lyric a thinly-vieled attack on the Trump administration? The references to fossil fuels, untold riches and deluded self-belief certainly fit... And there's a lyric about being "USDA certified lean", the USDA being the department of agriculture, which is facing some of the deepest cuts under the new president. The Killers have always had a Springsteen-esque impulse to represent blue collar America, so the lyric could easily be read in that context.

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Tears For Fears cover Arcade Fire and seven other songs you may have missed

A semi-regular round-up of songs on the internet, of which there are many. These are a mere few that caught my eye (ear?) this week.

1) Tears For Fears - And I Was A Boy From School
1980s sweater enthusiasts Tears For Fears were best known for big pop moments like Shout and The Seeds Of Love, but their music was generally more experimental (and pompous) than those stadium-sized choruses would suggest. After an acrimonious break-up in the 1990s, the band reformed in 2005, and are currently back in the studio.

They're limbering up with a few covers, and their taste is impeccable. Here's Hot Chip's ...Boy From School, and Arcade Fire's Ready To Start, like you've never heard them before.







2) Lorde - Everybody Wants To Rule The World
And, in an act of synchronistic reciprocity, Lorde has covered Tears For Fears' Everybody Wants To Rule The World for the Hunger Games soundtrack. Bombastic doesn't begin to describe it. Volcanoes have erupted with less fuss.




3) Sia - Elastic Heart
Pop's most in-demand songwriter is clearly keeping all the best material back for herself. This song, a duet with The Weeknd, is punch-the-air fantastic. Shame the video's so pointlessly lacklustre.




4) The Killers - When You Were Young (live on Later)
The Killers' Direct Hits is a perfect Christmas present for your mum. To persuade you to part with that tenner, the band played their second-best song on Later... With Jools this week. 

After all these years, the minor shift into the last chorus still gives me shivers.




5) Madonna - Ray Of Light (LEAF remix)
Forget Britney's new album, William Orbit's finest moment will always be his work on Madonna's Ray Of Light album. The man formerly (and ill-advisedly) known as "Willy-O" made a new mix of the title track for last weekend's London Electronic Arts Festival, and he has generously put it on Soundcloud for everyone to enjoy.

Less generously, he's disabled embedding - so you'll need to click on the above link to hear it. In the meantime, here's an outtake from Mario Testino's cover shoot for the album. Sadly, they've photoshopped out the burger Madonna was enjoying at the time. 

6) Charlotte OC - Hangover
Manchester's Charlotte "OC" O'Connor describes her music as "spooky gospel". The 22-year-old was discovered by the team who snapped up Lana Del Rey (Stranger Records), and she's equally intriguing. 

Hangover is my favourite track from her forthcoming Colour My Heart EP, although you should check out the title track, too.




7) Little Mix - Move (dance version)
This "dance edit" of Little Mix's video is a curate's egg. The choreography is great - but the editing is all over the place. They're singing! Now they're not singing! Now they're singing the wrong bit! And now they're in the dark for no good reason! Weird. 

Oh, and if you haven't read it, here's my interview with the band, which went up on the BBC earlier this week. 




8) Metronomy - I'm Aquarius
I'm Aquarius is a low-key launch for Metronomy's fourth album, Love Letters, which is due next March. 

Available through a star-gazing iOS app, you have to scan the night sky for the constellation of Aquarius to make the song magically appear on your phone. Or you could just, er, stream it below.

Right, that's quite enough for one week - and I didn't even have time to mention Rebecca Ferguson's ferocious cover of Roar, or Haim teaming up with Lorde to do Sheryl Crow's Strong Enough. There literally aren't enough hours in the day.

Have a great weekend.
mrdiscopop

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The Killers premiere Shot At The Night video

As previously discussed, The Killers have a greatest hits album coming out, and new track Shot At The Night is the bribe bonus that'll make most fans want to buy it. Produced by M83, it comes with one of those effortlessly anthemic choruses that seem to spill out of Brandon Flowers' brain almost by accident (the verses, on the other hand, are pretty woeful).

You won't see much of the band in the video, which is a cute little Las Vegas love story. It kind of reminds me of Before Sunrise / Before Sunset, which can only be a good thing.

The Killers - Shot At The Night

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Perfunctory blog update #2: Here is a new song by the Killers

Shot At The Night is a new song by the Killers and M83 (you know the ones who did that Hah-hoo Hoo-hah song). Taken from the band's 10th Anniversary Best Of collection, it finds Brandon and the other equally-important ones in mid-tempo anthemic mode. It's rather good.

The Killers - Shot At The Night

Out in November, the "Direct Hits" compilation has a pretty amazing tracklist. A deluxe edition comes with DVDs and five 10″ vinyl records with all the tracks on them again, for some reason.

Direct Hits Tracklist:
01. Mr. Brightside
02. Somebody Told Me
03. Smile Like You Mean It
04. All These Things That I’ve Done
05. When You Were Young
06. Read My Mind
07. For Reasons Unknown
08. Human
09. Spaceman
10. A Dustland Fairytale
11. Runaways
12. Miss Atomic Bomb
13. The Way It Was
14. Shot At the Night
15. Just Another Girl
16. Mr. Brightside (Original Demo) - deluxe edition
17. When You Were Young (Calvin Harris Remix) - deluxe edition
18. Be Still - deluxe edition

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Listen to The Killers' seventh Christmas single

For a band who record a charity Christmas single every year, it's surprisingly hard to find a picture of The Killers wearing Santa hats or shiny red noses. This is disappointing.

Less of a letdown, however, is this year's entry into their Christmas canon. Feel It In My Bones is a smoky, impatient rock groove, featuring the return of the Psycho Father Christmas from 2007's Don't Shoot Me Santa, played again by Ryan Pardey.

Recorded in one-day on a pit stop on their current world tour, the song is by no means dashed off. In fact, it trumps a couple of tracks on their current album Battle Born.

Once they hit 10 tracks, The Killers' Funtime Christmas Party Album is going to be something quite special, isn't it?



Feel It In My Bones is out on Tuesday, with all proceeds benefitting Aids charity (RED).

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The Killers on a super neon highway and five other songs you may have missed

A semi-regular round-up of videos and songs I haven't had the chance to blog about over the last seven days. This week's all-star cast includes.

1) The Killers - Runaway
"Urgh," you will think, "this video is as uninspired and dull as the song". But stick around - what begins as a tedious studio performance slowly goes all sci-fi, with the band perched atop intergalactic floating platforms and zooming down a Tron-inspired highway, all designed by former Lucasfilm employee Warren Fu.

I am particularly jealous of Brandon Flowers glowing red mic stand (not a metaphor).




2) Yeasayer - Longevity
More trippy neon graphics abound in this video from Brooklyn's Yeasayer. "Live in the moment, never count on longevity," intones Chris Keating over a drawling funk beat, apparently inspired by Aaliyah. . The band have always straddled the line between experimental and accessible, and this song is no exception. Much love for the middle eastern strings in the fade out.




3) The Veronicas - Lolita
Australia's most successful twins since Gayle and Gillian are back with their first new material since 2007's Hook Me Up. Apparently its taken so long because the sisters fell out during their last tour. "We couldn't stand being in the same room as one another," Jess told The Music Fix. "I just needed to go and read some books, she [Lisa] needed to go and hang out in Nashville and play some blues music."

As you can hear, there is absolutely no blues influence on Lolita, which sounds like Tatu frenching Marilyn Manson in the bondage club from The Matrix Reloaded.





4) Hot Chip - How Do You Do?
This is just odd.




5) Amelia Lily - You Bring Me Joy (WestFunk Remix)
Basically Amelia Lily's fantastic debut single with added lasers. Put your hands in the air like you just don't etc.

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New single from The Killers

It's been four years since we last had new material from The Killers. So what can we expect from their new material? A reinvigorated rock group at the peak of their creative powers ? A confusing dubstep side-project? A concept album about László Bíró, inventor of the ball-point pen?

Er... no. The Killers sound exactly the same as they did four years ago.

Exactly. The. Same.

Runaway is the first release from their forthcoming album Battle Born and the only real innovation is that Brandon Flowers has pushed his vocals a little higher in the mix. Otherwise, it's the same old sustained chords, the same old queasy synth line, and the oh-so-familiar military snare drum in the build-up to the last chorus.

It's not a bad song, per se, just a bit disappointing. Have a listen below...

The Killers - Runaways

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Ninety seconds of a new Killers song

Hooray! Brandon Flowers has finally patched it up with Ronnie Verruca and the boys, and they're back in their studio "thrashing out the jams". The band's fourth studio album is provisionally called Battle Born, and Flowers recently told Q Magazine "we just hope lightning strikes again". As they hang around waiting for a thunderstorm, The Killers have released an instrumental clip of the title track, and the DC Comics-inspired logo for the new album. Nice font.

The Killers - Battle Born album trailer

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Review: Brandon Flowers goes solo in London

The scorn poured on Brandon Flowers' solo album mystifies me. Critics are waggling their gnarled fingers in unison, scolding the Killers frontman for having the vulgarity to step away from his band. They call the record boring, bland, self-indulgent. Q magazine even compared it to Chris Rea.

I just don't hear it.

To me, the album is a real return to form after the nauseating sax-solo campery of The Killers' Day & Age. Flamingo is blushed with bankable hooks, sparkling synths and strutting, funkotronic basslines.

Recorded in the wake of Flowers' mother's death from cancer in February, it sees the star re-evaluating his relationships and his faith. Under stormy skies, Brandon barely goes 10 seconds without bleating on about sin or redemption. He even brings in a gospel choir for On The Floor - a song about sinking to your knees and making pitiful, forlorn prayers to your maker.

This is the song Flowers chooses to open his first ever UK solo gig, his head bowed under sombre lights at Islington's The Garage. The performance elicits fears that this could be one of those po-faced solo gigs that slowly sucks your soul out of your eardrums - but then the band count in to Crossfire and the worlds biggest grin lands smack bang in the middle of Flowers' face.

Honestly, he looks like The Joker in a groomsman's suit.

"Well, thank you very much," he says to the crowd as it ends, explaining he'd been afraid no-one would know the words.

"This is the first time we've played since the record has come out, so it's exciting to see people that have heard a few of the songs."

The celebratory atmosphere continues throughout the show, culminating in an ill-advised bout of dad dancing from the normally suave rock star. The new material is indistinguishable from The Killers' - and a mid-set outing for Losing Touch (from Day & Age) only reinforces the impression that the acorn hasn't fallen far from the tree.

Appropriately, then, the songs feel stadium-sized even in a tiny, 500-capacity venue. Set closer Playing With Fire gains a rousing chantalong coda that builds and builds until the doors start to bulge. An acoustic encore of When You Were Young is entirely drowned out by the audience.

So, it's 500 happy punters and one ecstatic singer that vacate the venue at 9:30pm (note to promoters: this is much more amenable than the usual arrangement). The critics can carp all they want, but the audience know what they like.


SETLIST
On The Floor
Crossfire
Magdalena
Bette Davies Eyes (Kim Carnes Cover)
Jilted Lovers & Broken Hearts
Was It Something I Said
Hard Enough
Are You Lonesome Tonight? (Elvis Presley cover)
Only The Young
Swallow It
Playing With Fire
Encore: When You Were Young

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