The majority of Brandon Flowers’ career has been spent with The Killers. First forming the group in 2001 with Dave Keuning, the group has sold over 35 million albums and performed at some of the world’s legendary venues like Madison Square Garden and Wembley Stadium. While The Killers continue to release music and tour, Flowers recently announced a different project entirely when revealing his upcoming solo country album, Thrasher.
It has been over a decade since Flowers stepped into the studio for a solo album. That moment happened back in 2015 with The Desired Effect. The album explored genres like pop rock and climbed the charts, peaking at No. 1 on the UK Albums chart. In the United States, it finished at No. 3 on the US Top Rock Albums chart. But Flowers won’t return to rock for Thrasher. Instead, he hoped to highlight his life before the glitz and glamor of stardom.
Scheduled to release on August 21, Flowers shared a trailer for the album. Showing snippets of the recording process, the singer suggested, “I unlocked a room that I feel that has been waiting for me all along: country western music.” Flowers added, “It has offered itself to me and the stories I have to tell at the moment with a breezy enthusiasm.”
Brandon Flowers Releasing New Single On Friday
While Flowers was born in Nevada, he eventually found himself growing up in Utah. Surrounded by nothing but endless farms and hills, the hitmaker’s father was also a big fan of country. Listening to Johnny Cash and Waylon Jennings, his father unknowingly helped inspire his son’s passion for Thrasher.
Wanting to fully embrace the genre, Flowers took a different approach when he collaborated with David Rawlings and Charlie McCoy at RCA Studio A in Nashville. Inspired by a city full of country legends, stories, and history, fans will get a taste of the new album on Friday, June 26, with the single “Plans.”
As for the rest of the track list:
- “Does It Ever Cross Your Mind?”
- “One of Us”
- “Tiger’s Blood”
- “Plans”
- “Paradise”
- “Miss America”
- “Angel”
- “The Red Ground”
- “In a Heartbeat”
- “An American Dream”
For those worried about the new direction Flowers was taking with his career, the singer promised that he wasn’t straying too far from rock. “This is not me running away from rock & roll. I don’t want to replace my old songs. I simply found room for more.”
(Photo by Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic for Bonnaroo Arts And Music Festival)
The post Raised on Johnny Cash and Waylon Jennings, The Killers’ Brandon Flowers Finally Makes His Country Move appeared first on American Songwriter.
Author: Chris Piner
« They Only Had One Hit, but These 3 Singer-Songwriters From the 1960s Deserved Stardom
3 Rock Bands From the 1960s Who Had One Pop Crossover and Never Looked Back »