Las Vegas-based band blends genres on new album 'Battle Born' 
Brandon Flowers isn't Mr. Brightside anymore.
On "Battle Born," the latest release from The Killers, listeners hear a band that sounds much different from the group that made "Hot Fuss" back in 2004.
The Las Vegas-based boys have crafted a raw, rocking Americana-meets-electronica album this time around. It's a beautiful marriage of the Bruce Springsteen-esque anthems like "When You Were Young" off 2006's "Sam's Town" and pumped-up, synth-heavy tracks like "Human" from 2008's "Day & Age." It's been four years since the band's last release, and even though Flowers released his solo album "Flamingo" during the hiatus, it was time to hear from The Killers again. And the material produced was definitely worth waiting for.
"Battle Born" starts off with "Flesh and Bone," a high-energy song that is a good introduction for the tracks that follow. Lead single "Runaways" comes next. The bombastic rock ballad is in heavy rotation on local radio stations but it hasn't gotten old yet. Lyrics like "We got engaged on a Friday night / I swore on the head of our unborn child that I could take care of the three of us / But I got the tendency to slip when the nights get wild" paints vivid pictures and brings to mind-sweeping Hollywood romances.
The Killers play with genres a lot more on this album than in the past. While the band followed an electronic — Americana — electronic pattern for its previous three releases, "Battle Born" doesn't fit into just one category and branches out from the two things The Killers know best.
"Here With Me" sounds like a song you'd hear spinning at an '80s prom as far as instrumentation is concerned, but lyrics like "don't want your picture on my cell phone / just want you here with me" prove it's a sweet, romantic slow jam for the 21st century. "From Here On Out" has some country twang to it. Maybe it isn't the kind of hoedown-tailored honky tonk you'd hear at The Saloon on any given night, but it's nice to hear the band take risks. "Deadlines and Commitments" shows off the extent of the frontman's vocal range and sounds like a blend between Culture Club and U2.
Flowers isn't just a singer; he's a poet and a storyteller. But the band as a whole has stepped up its game on this album. This isn't just the Brandon Flowers band. Strong background vocals create a more unified tone and the rhythms and harmonies found throughout "Battle Born" are interesting, sometimes unexpected and nearly always pleasing to the ear. Even though the songs on the album are vastly different from one to the next, "Battle Born" flows nicely.
After eight years on the national music scene, it shouldn't come as a surprise that The Killers have developed a more mature sound. Themes of marriage and parenthood crop up multiple times on "Battle Born," proof that art is imitating life. But even though they are growing up, the group's sound is still fresh — don't expect Flowers and company to hobble onto the stage with canes and walkers or start booking gigs at casinos. The Killers aren't falling into oldies territory anytime soon.