Brandon Flowers- Thrasher
Label: Island
Producers: Shawn Everett, Jonathan Rado, Jed Jones
Thrasher is the third solo outing from The Killers’ frontman, Brandon Flowers, following outings in both 2010 and 2015. However, its true spiritual and thematic predecessor is the band’s rustically moody 2021 concept album, Pressure Machine, which in-turn pulled its greatest influence from Bruce Springsteen’s Nebraska, with its stripped roots-rock/folk hybrid and dark, dystopian exploration of one’s small-town origins. With that said, Flowers expands both the emotional and musical scope of that realm considerably on Thrasher. He not only mixes those darker overtones with complimentary narratives that are more celebratory and bittersweet in nature, but also takes the stylistic tapestry of the record into a deeper country & western and Americana space. This is all vibrantly delivered by Flowers himself, and an impressive roster of producers, musicians, and other collaborators.
This rich and rootsy soundscape is certainly the most initially alluring quality of Thrasher. Recorded in Nashville’s legendary RCA Studio A, and featuring contributions from talent like Charlie McCoy, Bruce Bouton, David Rawlings, Margo Price, and the brothers of Dawes, the record rolls out an expansive combination of American roots sounds and evocative images of the American West, both the grand cinematic landscapes and the small, desolate towns that are littered across it. The album is both stylistically unified and diverse, with flourishes of everything from classic rock to mariachi, but is most prominently anchored in a vintage hybrid of Outlaw-country and Heartland-folk. Vocally, Flowers unearths a robust corner of his range that recalls the poetic swagger of country giants like Waylon Jennings and Johnny Cash, while his storytelling deliveries marry his now signature Springsteen leanings with inklings of Kris Kristofferson. Those may seem like dramatic comparisons, but to think this is to also discount just how vitally special Flowers’ place is among his generation’s era of musicians. He’s always been a stellar stylist and narrator, but if anything those gifts have been a bit buried underneath all the grandeur of the Killers’ rock framework. The organic texture of Thrasher casts a new spotlight on these gifts, with Flowers and these songs sounding seamlessly natural within this panorama of pedal steel, banjo, harmonica, and acoustic guitars.
But like any truly great album, the sound and style of the record is only one ingredient in its magic. It is indeed the songs that makes such projects truly special, and Thrasher is no exception in this regard. Just as the musical tissue of this album explores the wide range of American roots, this body of songs too finds Flowers navigating through an emotionally expansive account of his own personal life story to this point, and also of those he’s lived it with and encountered along the way. These songs are bustling with vibrant, evocative intimacy and imagery. They center around the sweeping drama and emotional complexity that we all face as we reckon with the common disparity between what we envisioned our lives to be, and the reality that both our choices and the hands of fate have bestowed upon us. And as those lyrical and narrative elements unify with the lush sonic landscape of the album, the results are pure musical cinema.
The deliciously twangy shuffle of opener “Does It Ever Cross Your Mind” poetically contrasts the simplicity of every-day domesticity with the wondrously charming amazement that such a life even exists in the first place. The track possesses that robust, troubadour country sound, all the while sounding wistfully positive and wide-eyed at the same time. There’s a similarly contrasting unity to “One of Us”, which was inspired by the death of his sister’s husband, and therefore suggests a somber country tale. What we get instead is a beautifully bittersweet tribute that manages to be both celebratory and mournful all at once. Stand-out tracks like “Tiger’s Blood” and the tremendous lead single, “Plans” also beautifully capture life’s stinging dichotomies, particularly when it comes to adulthood’s harsh reality that your childhood expectations were out of step with reality. Again, Flowers delivers these bitter truths with a splendid blend of resigned acceptance, sardonic humor, pure disappointment, and choked-back sadness. Conversely, with “The Red Ground”, we find one of the record’s most thrilling moments, and its true outlier in terms of both emotional and musical perspectives. While so much of the album focuses on running from one’s origins, “Ground” reminds us of the longing we eventually feel for the comforting familiarity of those roots, all while framed in a romantically, mysterious blend of brassy mariachi arrangements and lingering rock-noir.
And then there are the tales that are not bittersweet, but bitterly sad. “Paradise” may not seem like one that fits this mold, but remember this is a country album at its core, and one of that artform’s most magical abilities lie within a spirited song subverted by the sad realities of its lyrics. Sung from the perspective of an aging Vegas car valet, its blissful sonic peak will make you momentarily forget the numb existence lingering underneath. Beautifully brutal moments like “Miss America”, “Angel”, and “In a Heartbeat” won’t be so generous however. These are exercises in pure heartbreak. “America” was inspired by Flowers’ sister fleeing from an abusive addict of a husband, and in its fourth verse delivers the most harrowing and unflinching lyrical revelation of this record, and perhaps any released this year. “Angel” meanwhile feels like the track most inspired by Nebraska and other mini-movies from Springsteen’s earlier albums, with a tale plagued by racism, crime, heartbreak, and fatal violence. Finally, “In A Heartbeat” feels like a long-lost country classic, both in its utter heartache and its frankly cautionary nature.
All of this ultimately builds to “An American Dream”, a grand-finale moment that ties the overall spirit and sound of the record together, while also transcending it. It’s a sprawling but urgent moment that incorporates trippy classic rock harmonies, and fantastical, almost psychedelic imagery, with its fever pitch moment being an encounter with 68-comeback-era Elvis in a Tesla. It may be tempting to momentarily lose yourself in the sheer bizarreness of the track, and it’s undeniably wild to find it on an album that also dives so deeply into vintage, organic simplicity. But in addition to expanding upon the sonic adventure that makes Thrasher so thrilling in the first place, “Dream” is also as grounded as any track in the overall thesis–make that warning–of the record’s overarching story. That there is a harsh life lesson to be learned in prioritizing the chase of fame, fortune, and material satisfaction in favor of the emotional things that matter most. And that there is a high cost to pay for learning that lesson too late.
It’s remarkable how simultaneously vintage, intimate, and nevertheless epic Thrasher proves to be. In so many ways, this is Brandon Flowers stripping things back to formative musical and narrative origins, while still taking dramatic creative swings. In turn, it’s that exciting tussle that is perfectly emblematic of the struggling life complexities at the core of these songs. This album proves to be an Americana marvel in every sense, and it deserves to dominate industry conversations surrounding the best albums of the year. It most certainly will do so around these parts. For over two decades, Flowers has proven himself as one of popular music’s essential voices. But with Thrasher, he may have just now delivered his defining masterpiece.
Track Listing:
- “Does It Ever Cross Your Mind” (Brandon Flowers)
- “One of Us” (Flowers)
- “Tiger’s Blood” (Flowers, Jonathan Rado, Shawn Everett, Jed Jones)
- “Plans” (Flowers)
- “Paradise” (Flowers, Rado, Everett, Jones)
- “Miss America” (Flowers)
- “Angel” (Flowers)
- “The Red Ground” (Flowers)
- “In A Heartbeat” (Flowers)
- “An American Dream” (Flowers)
Leave a Reply