On August 21st, the Killers released their sixth studio album, Imploding the Mirage, which contains some of their best material since 2008’s Day and Age. The release of four singles throughout the spring and summer made me, a longtime fan, excited, hesitant, very excited, and hesitant, respectively.

Lead single “Caution” fits right into the Killers’ arena friendly setlists and is a nice departure from 2017’s “The Man.” I also highly recommend the album version of this song rather than the radio edit because of the distant, ambient introduction. They followed it with “Fire in Bone,” a song that sees singer Brandon Flowers overtly channeling his appreciation of the Talking Heads. The choruses make up for the rest of the song, but this track had me doubting whether or not Imploding the Mirage could best their previous album, Wonderful Wonderful. Luckily, they followed it up with my favorite song on the album, “My Own Soul’s Warning,” which is another epic, grand song in the vein of the band’s own “A Dustland Fairytale” or “Read My Mind.” It leads off the album with a bang, and is likely to be seen at festivals for years to come. The final single, “Dying Breed,” starts slow but is beautiful in its own way, with subtle synthesizers leading into a classic Killers chorus. The album’s other six tracks seem destined to be lost in the Killers’ frontloaded catalogue, but diehard fans will always appreciate a song like “Running Towards a Place,” which I personally would’ve heard rather than “Fire in Bone.”

My problem with bands releasing four singles is that by the time you’ve heard them all, you’ve heard almost half of the album. It’s important to acknowledge that the Killers are a band driven by their singles, which makes for quite the live show, being essentially a greatest hits album. What sets Imploding the Mirage apart from the rest of the Killers’ discography is the amount of big-name contributions it holds. Lindsey Buckingham, formerly of Fleetwood Mac, plays guitar on “Caution,” and k.d. lang and Adam Granduciel, the latter being the mastermind behind the War on Drugs, also contribute to the record.

Expect to see this record in my year-end list, primarily because of a personal attachment to a band that introduced me to so much good music. The Killers will always provide me with a nostalgic sense and I’ll never complain about new music from them.

Ryan Meyer is a sophomore journalism major. He can be reached at 581-2812 or [email protected]