Brandon Flowers says The Killers’ ‘Mr Brightside’ wouldn’t be a hit if released today

The singer discusses changes in the music industry in new interview ahead of solo album release

The Killers frontman Brandon Flowers has discussed the changes in the music industry in a new interview, stating that his band would have struggled to achieve success with the current system.

The singer releases his second solo album ‘The Desired Effect’ next week (May 18), following on from 2010 solo debut ‘Flamingo’. But first, he spoke to Shortlist about the current musical climate.

Flowers said, “Record deals have changed. The radio now only looks at the charts. They play a song a few times, see how well it’s doing on iTunes and if it’s not doing well, they’ll stop promoting it. That would have been a disaster for The Killers.”

Advertisement

He also continued to suggest that one of his band’s most famous hits, ‘Mr Brightside’, would not have been a hit if it was released today, due to the lack of promotion and loyalty paid to current artists. “‘Mr Brightside’ was released twice [in 2003 and 2004]. It didn’t go down well first time. It wouldn’t have the opportunity in the current climate.”

Flowers recently told NME that The Killers will make another record because their previous effort ‘Battle Born’ “wasn’t good enough” and “we all know it”. “Once [the band] all get on the same page, it’ll work,” Flowers said. He jokingly added: “I need to persuade them to like the same things as I do.”

Later this month, Brandon Flowers will head to the UK for a series of solo shows. This stint will include two gigs in London, as well as shows in Manchester, Leeds, Birmingham and Edinburgh. See the full details below.

Brandon Flowers will play the following UK live dates:

London Brixton Academy (May 21-22)
Manchester Academy (24)
Edinburgh Usher Hall (25)
Leeds O2 Academy (26)
Birmingham O2 Academy (28)

To check the availability of Brandon Flowers tickets, click here.

You May Also Like

Advertisement

TRENDING

Advertisement

More Stories