The Killers detour into a new and rich sonic landscape

The latest album from The Killers started, unusually, with silence, lyrics first

NEW YORK -- The latest album from The Killers started, unusually, with silence — lyrics first. As the pandemic gripped the nation in 2020, words began spilling out of frontman Brandon Flowers, creating little poems based on growing up during the 1990s in the tiny, remote Utah town of Nephi. Poems, it turns out, that were perfect for lyrics. “I’d never had so many lyrics and stories come out of me the way that they did for this record,” said Flowers. “It was a breath of fresh air, and it was a blessing for me. I don’t know that it’s something that I’m going to be able to rely on for every record, but, man, I took it.” The rest of the band took on the challenge of turning those poems into songs and the result is the 11-track “Pressure Machine,” marking a new smaller sonic direction for the band known for arena-ready rock songs like “Mr. Brightside” and “The Man.”