Listen to The Killers’ surprise guitar-driven new single

25 December, 2023

The Killers' Brandon Flowers

The Killers have given fans a surprise Christmas present in the form of a brand new song via their social media – check it out below.

The Las Vegas band posted the song on their official channels earlier today (December 25), alongside the message: “Santa’s got a brand new song in his bag. Merry Christmas!”

The song, which they have not yet named, is a four minute, new wave/goth-inspired guitar-driven track that recalls the band’s early years.

It follows on from an interview that the band’s singer Brandon Flowers gave to NME last week that suggested that this more rock-oriented direction is part of a long-term plan: “I realised that the vehicle that I want to ride in had less synthesisers and less laser beams!,” he explained.

“I’m trying to figure that out. It’s not uncommon; we’ve made records like ‘Sam’s Town’ [2006], ‘Battle Born’ [2012] and definitely ‘Pressure Machine’ [2021] where there’s less presence of that kind of sound. I’m not disparaging that sound – a lot of that music has shaped who I am – but as I get older I want to be authentic to who I am and how I’m feeling. I have to follow that, and I just feel like that’s leading more towards guitar music, rock n’ roll and Americana music.”

In the same interview, Flowers also opened up about the chances of getting all four Killers back on the same page and working together as a cohesive unit again: “The goal has always been to get all four original members to take ownership and be proud of what we’re doing, but it’s so difficult with all four of us living in different cities. It’s not impossible. It’s weird to be talking to you about it, but I’d definitely like to do that.”

Flowers also spoke about reflecting on his career so far with their recently released greatest hits album ‘Rebel Diamonds’. “Personally, I’m my own harshest critic,” he said. “I’m still doing that thing I did 20 years ago where I’m looking at our best of and then looking at Tom Petty’s best of and seeing where I’m falling short!”

“But at the same time, I’m looking at it and thinking, ‘You can really see this band striving, maturing, growing and representing ourselves as honestly as possible while still making great music that I’m really proud of.”

Earlier this month, ‘Rebel Diamonds’ became the band’s eighth number one album on the UK Albums Chart. It was also recently revealed that ‘Mr. Brightside’ is the most streamed song in the history of Spotify UK.

The band are due to depart on their ‘Rebel Diamonds’ greatest hits tour in June 2024. The Killers are due to stop by multiple dates at Dublin’s 3Arena, Glasgow’s OVO Hydro, Manchester’s Co-op Live and London’s O2 Arena – find all tickets here.

The post Listen to The Killers’ surprise guitar-driven new single appeared first on NME.