Skip to main content

Elton John sets aside some time to help write the new Killers album

elton john working with killers on their latest album
Image used with permission by copyright holder
British singer/songwriter and musical legend Elton John has had quite the busy year. He just put out his latest record, announced a collaboration with Lady Gaga, and began a world tour at the age of 68. Now the storied composer says he is working with Brandon Flowers and The Killers on their latest record.

John has headed to the Killers’ home town, Las Vegas, to add a taste of his classic charm to their next album, according to a recent video interview with Shazam. The new album will be The Killers first since 2012’s Battle Born.

“I’m hoping to go to Vegas and write with Brandon for the new Killers record,” he said. “I’m leaving today. So that’ll be interesting.”

Flowers and John have been friends for some time. Flowers was the first guest on John’s Beats 1 radio series on Apple Music, Rocket Hour, and came back recently to talk about growing up listening to the legendary songwriter’s many classic albums.

In the same interview, John revealed that the pair often trade music, saying. “When Brandon makes a record — whether it’s for The Killers or on his own — he comes and plays me the album,” continuing, “Usually, I’m very happy and excited to hear it. And I usually play mine to him.”

Besides participating in a staggering amount of musical collaborations of late, John will perform this year to support his latest work, Wonderful Crazy Night, which came out on February 5. In his Shazam interview, he also talked about working with Kanye West and Fall Out Boy, and — ever the contemporary listener — his admiration for electronic musician Grimes.

Work might have already commenced on the latest Killers record, but when exactly the album will be officially released remains a mystery. That said, Flowers did reveal in a recent interview with NME that it might hit shelves (and the Internet) before the end of 2016.

Unless they make a quick job of it, the album will likely be released at the very end of this year.

Parker Hall
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Parker Hall is a writer and musician from Portland, OR. He is a graduate of the Oberlin Conservatory of Music in Oberlin…
What is hi-res audio, and how can you experience it right now?
Dlyan Wireless Headphones

High-resolution audio, hi-res audio, or even HD audio -- whatever you decide to call it (for the record, the industry prefers "hi-res audio"), it's a catch-all term that describes digital audio that goes above and beyond the level of sound quality you can expect from a garden-variety MP3 file and even CDs. It was once strictly the domain of audiophiles, but now that major streaming music services like Apple Music, Amazon Music, Tidal, Deezer, and Qobuz have embraced it, almost everyone can take advantage of what hi-res has to offer.

But what exactly is hi-res audio? What equipment do you need to listen to it? Where can you download or stream it? And does it actually sound better? We've got the answers.
What does the term 'hi-res audio' mean?

Read more
How to download music from Spotify for offline listening
How to download music and podcasts from Spotify: The downloads folder.

If you're a Spotify Premium user paying that premium Spotify fee, chances are you've taken at least some time curating playlists, liking songs, and using the platform's easy-to-use (and recently revamped) user interface to discover new and old music.

But sometimes all that music or your favorite podcasts aren't available if you find yourself without an internet connection to stream them from — like on a long plane ride or weekend camping trip in the sticks. That's where Spotify's offline listening feature comes in handy, allowing you to download playlists, albums, and podcasts through its desktop and mobile apps so you can still rock out while you're off the grid.

Read more
How to switch from Spotify to Apple Music
Spotify and Apple Music transfer on a smartphone.

Spotify is the world's most popular music streaming service for a reason. It has a massive catalog of music and podcasts, is full of cool music discovery and sharing features, and is really easy to use.
However, with its recent price increase and the fact that it still hasn't joined most of its peers in offering a hi-res audio quality option, you may be considering jumping ship for its closest competitor, Apple Music, which counts lossless hi-res tracks, mind-bending spatial audio, Dolby Atmos Music tracks, and a catalog that rivals Spotify's among the many attractive reasons to switch.

But there's one problem: you’ve spent a lot of time creating playlists and marking songs and albums as your favorites in Spotify. Is it worth the switch? Will all that hard work be lost in translation?

Read more