Although I do not claim to be a music expert, or even someone qualified to write and review about the alternative 'indie' scene, I did feel the need to express some thoughts about The Killer's first studio album in five years, 'Wonderful, Wonderful.' This album follows the 2012 release of 'Battleborn,' which is frequently cited as 'not being good enough.' However, as a person who can quote songs and even name which track a song is on a particular album, I found there to be a bit more value in Battleborn than it is credited with.

Flowers, in an interview with NME magazine, (The Killers discuss 'The Man', new album 'Wonderful Wonderful' and the problem with 'Battle Born'- July 11, 2017) stated that he found Battleborn to be somewhat 'aimless,' and while that may have been the case, I think the 'aimlessness' that the band struggled with in Battleborn helped set them up for the rawness of the newest addition to The Killer's discography, Wonderful, Wonderful. Upon listening to the title track, I was reminded of almost a projective ideal from a sector of postmodern poetics, and how the artist is encouraged to 'utilize himself as an object' for the purpose of the poem. (Or in this case song.) In this album, The Killer's somehow stumbled across a way to effectively balance the idea of being an 'object' of use for the sake of art, without distancing themselves from the project. In my opinion, this realism stemmed from the release of Battleborn, in which the band returned to the Las Vegas scene after touring in the UK.

The first track on the album, makes it abundantly clear that the band felt as though they were 'losing touch' with their roots, and needed to return home to Las Vegas. The first song, 'Flesh and Bone,' conveys a short message of their identification with home:

"Cut from the cloth

of a flag that bears the name:

Battleborn."

Pictured below, is the Nevada state flag, and as you can see, the name 'Battleborn' is represented, revealing a parallel between The Killer's need to return to their roots. This is also shown in the band's constant references to 'old Americana culture' in several tracks on the 2012 album.

Although the album itself may have been perceived as lacking direction, the ideology of returning to your roots was overlooked- the very act of them writing in order to become more in touch with their home allowed for the level of introspection and self exploration seen in Wonderful, Wonderful.

Wonderful, Wonderful strays from the sound typically associated with the indie-rock band, as they tend to lean towards a more 'organic' sound, that is- relying very little on synthesizers and focusing on guitar/bass/drum interactions. With the use of synthesizers, The Killers explore an ethereal, surreal sound, which is juxtaposed against an alarmingly realistic lyric set. Flowers describes this album as being, "more bare than I've ever been," and this is directly correlated to Battleborn's experimentation in styles.

Anyone who has listened to the entirety of Battleborn can tell that there are several different styles being employed within one album, and these styles can be heard in an altered fashion in Wonderful, Wonderful. The realness of songs within Wonderful, Wonderful can first be heard being explored in Battleborn's more tender songs, such as 'Be Still,' and 'Heart of a Girl.' When listening to the soft tonality in the beginning of 'Some Kind of Love' (Wonderful, Wonderful Track 7) I cannot help but be reminded of 'Be Still' 's almost lullaby- like quality.

Yet, on the complete opposite side of the spectrum, the build up in the title song, Wonderful, Wonderful, throws me back to the title song of their previous album- Battleborn. Although the songs do not have exactly similar styles, they are both captivating within their own fashion, and function extremely well as title songs to the album.

Simply speaking, the aimlessness of Battleborn allowed for the band to get out of their headspace- and let them connect what they wanted to say with how they were going to say it, a challenge Battleborn did not quite meet. Some of the songs on Battleborn may have been viewed as lackluster, but let specific ideas be expanded upon, and directly lent to the 'realness' felt in Wonderful, Wonderful.

The Killer's took the alternative world by storm with their release of their 2004 album, Hot Fuss, and have not quite been allowed to escape the sound they established in the early 2000's. Even as a sophomore in college, I cannot go to a party without hearing the iconic 'Mr. Brightside,' to which almost everyone in my generation surprisingly knows the words to. I believe that much of the issues The Killer's have faced, either internally or from external critics is due to how quickly Hot Fuss was popularized, and they were forced to attempt to 'live up' to the music they put out in 2004. This wasn't quite fair- as the band needed to be allowed to explore who they were as artists.

Wonderful, Wonderful is essentially the representation of the band finally breaking free from their 2004 persona. Brandon Flowers, while slightly flashy, is no longer rocking the 'guyliner,' and should be allowed to finally be released from the image that he was so early set into. While The Killer's may not have felt that 'Battleborn' was 'good enough,' I feel as though it was an intermediate step and transition into Wonderful, Wonderful. After listening to the entire album (released on the day I wrote this- September 22, 2017) I am only more solidified within this opinion.

In my personal judgement, I'm not sure how well Wonderful, Wonderful will be received by media and fans. It employs several of their typical 'sounds' found in previous songs, but cannot be directly compared to any other of their albums with ease. It's certainly a different direction for The Killers, but I don't think that different should be immediately thought of in a negative light. After all, it's been quite some time since The Killers released their 'most iconic' track, and I think it's about time that they're allowed to focus on what they perceive to be 'wonderful.' (wonderful.)

NOTE: If anyone wants to buy me a ticket to The Killer's Chicago show in January 2018, it would be much appreciated, thank you.