The Killers conquered the world in the mid-2000s with their electro-tinged floor-filling indie rock blockbusters, and while they may never have quite hit those heady heights again, they nevertheless still fill arenas and headline festivals around the world and probably always will, and every single one of their previous five studio albums has hit number one in the UK charts.

Their sixth release – Imploding The Mirage – is their first since lead guitarist Dave Keuning amicably departed the band for a hiatus to focus on his solo output. It’s also an album whose release has been mired by the recent allegations of sexual assault levelled at members of the group’s road crew in 2009. An investigation conducted by the band’s legal team found no evidence to support the distressing claims, and none of the band themselves is in any way implicated, but it’s a story that won’t go away.

With all of that in mind, you might expect this album to be a more sombre affair than we’re accustomed too. And that’s before we’ve even mentioned Coronavirus. Well, not a bit of it.

Opening track My Own Soul’s Warning is an instant classic; a gospel rock track with thumping drums and a glorious keyboard riff that jumps straight into the band’s best-ever tracks. Dying Breed and Caution – justifiably the album’s lead single – are the kinds of synth-powered, Springsteen-esque, Americana-infused romps that are The Killers calling card. No band in the world can rival Brandon Flowers and co. when it comes to these sorts of songs. They’re majestic and incredibly loveable and the opening half of this album burns with this sort of intensity.

Things then take a slightly downward turn, albeit only briefly. Lightning Fields, featuring K.D. Lang, finds us in ballad country, while Fire In Bone is a slightly odd funk number driven by a plodding bassline, and together they combine for an oddly low key middle to the album. Running Towards A Place picks things up again, with it’s brooding vocals, while When The Dreams Run Dry is probably the best track here, a slow-builder that lyrically tackles some deep themes and explodes into a high octane flurry capped by the soaring peaks of Flowers’ incredible voice.

The Killers may never recapture the Hot Fuss peak of Mr Brightside, Somebody Told Me, and All These Things That I’ve Done – what band could? – but we should hope they never stop trying because there’s plenty here to adore.

Watch the official video for Caution here.

Exploding The Mirage tracklist:

1. My Own Soul’s Warning

2. Blowback

3. Dying Breed

4. Caution

5. Lightning Fields (featuring K.D. Lang)

6. Fire In Bone

7. Running Towards A Place

8. My God (featuring Weyes Blood)

9. When The Dreams Run Dry

10. Imploding The Mirage

 rock 

Author: Joe Sharratt

Joe Sharratt is a writer and journalist based in the UK covering music, literature, sport, and travel.