Sometimes the road forward starts with you looking over your shoulder. The Killers‘ frontman Brandon Flowers has done exactly that. Instead of chasing another arena-sized anthem, he’s slowing down, digging into the music that shaped him long before the spotlight found him. His new solo single, Plans, feels less like a reinvention and more like a homecoming.
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The song is the first taste of Thrasher, Flowers’ third solo album, comes out August 21 through Island Records. It marks his first solo release in more than a decade, following 2015’s The Desired Effect and his 2010 debut, Flamingo.
Released Friday (June 26), Plans embraces an Americana sound built around acoustic guitar, pedal steel, sweeping strings and warm female backing vocals. It’s a dramatic departure from the synth-pop textures of his previous solo work, with some listeners already drawing comparisons to the reflective atmosphere of the Killers’ 2021 album, Pressure Machine.
“So hold me in your arms / I think I’m going under / Take your time with my heart / It’s been rattled by the thunder,” Flowers sings before reflecting on ambitions left behind.
“Of the all you got engine / Always bound for the big show / Drowning out the plans I drew up years ago.”
Recorded in Nashville, Thrasher reunites Flowers with longtime producers Shawn Everett and Jonathan Rado. The sessions also featured guitarist David Rawlings, pedal steel player Bruce Bouton and legendary harmonica player Charlie McCoy, whose résumé includes all four of Bob Dylan’s Nashville albums.
The album turns inward, exploring Flowers’ childhood in Nephi, Utah, where his father introduced him to artists like Johnny Cash and Waylon Jennings during long drives through the countryside. According to Flowers, those early musical memories became the foundation for his most personal solo record yet.
“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.”
Later this year, Flowers will take Thrasher on a solo tour across the UK, Ireland and North America, including a performance at London’s Royal Albert Hall.
Looking ahead, Flowers also confirmed he’s been working on two solo albums that will arrive before the next Killers record.
“It’s more in the Flamingo direction,” he said. “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 what’s next from the Killers, Flowers said the band won’t revisit the polished synth-driven sound of singles Boy and Your Side Of Town.
“We will not put it out unless it is the best,” he said. “We’ve already discussed it. It’s gotta be so good or it’s not worth it.”
He also confirmed the next Killers release will feature all four members, continuing the reunion that began with 2024’s Bright Lights.
If Plans is any indication of what’s coming, could Thrasher become Brandon Flowers’ most personal album yet?
