"Mr. Brightside" rides again! The Killers will "definitely" put out a new album this year, frontman Brandon Flowers confirmed this morning in an interview with BBC Radio 1's Zane Lowe. "It's just whether it's the summertime or the wintertime," Flowers said of the release date for the Las Vegas band's yet-to-be-titled fourth album.
In fact, a few songs for the new album are already in the can, including a "killer" new track called "Battle Born," Flowers told the BBC. Expect the Killers to try to bring it all back home on this album: "I think the consensus within the band is to take those things that we've done well and really hone in on that," Flowers said. "We don't want to make Hot Fuss 2 or Sam's Town 2, or Day & Age 2. We'll maybe take all that stuff, the best of all of it and do what we know how to do."
As with British post-punks Bloc Party, whose frontman Kele Okereke revealed new album plans on the same radio show yesterday, the Killers' return was hardly a sure bet. Flowers and Co.'s most recent album was 2008's Day & Age, and the band announced a temporary hiatus in early 2010. Later that year, Flowers issued Vegas-themed solo debut Flamingo, and drummer Ronnie Vannuci followed with his own Big Talk last July.
That said, the Killers have been hinting at a new album for a while now. Last May, Vannucci told SPIN the band would be reuniting that week in their own Battle Born Studios — creative song title, guys! — to start work on the new record. They've also played occasional live shows since starting their break in February 2010, including sets last year in London's Hyde Park and as part of Lollapalooza Chile. Late last year, the Killers continued an annual tradition with the release of a holiday single and video, "The Cowboy's Christmas Ball," which raised a timeless question: Are they human, or are they square-dancer?