The Killers embrace change on new album
‘Wonderful Wonderful’ offers expansion for band as two members take a break from touring
“It feels good to have some new kids out in the world.”
So says Ronnie Vannucci Jr., part of the original lineup of the Killers, of the band’s 2017 album “Wonderful Wonderful.”
It’s the first collection of new material from the rockers since 2012’s “Battle Born.”
There’s a feistiness to songs such as the R&B-scented “The Man,” anti-Trump rant “Run for Cover” and Woody “The Calling ,” as well as the redemption anthem “Tyson vs. Douglas,” recounting the 1990 match where undisputed heavyweight boxing champion Tyson was knocked out by 42-1 underdog Buster Douglas.
The band, which formed in Las Vegas in 2001, has expanded its live lineup to represent “Wonderful Wonderful,” a Jacknife Lee-produced album that is both an expansion of and departure from the Killers’ previous work. They play the Air Canada Centre in Toronto on Friday.
Drummer Vannucci and frontman Brandon Flowers have been touring with keyboardist Robert Connolly, Taylor Milne — who plays guitar in Vannucci’s side project Big Talk — and three backing singers. They are also touring without two of the original foursome, guitarist Dave Keuning and bassist Mark Stoermer, who have been replaced by Ted Sablay on guitar and Jake Blanton on bass.
Both Keuning and Stoermer have opted out from most touring for the foreseeable future.
Vannucci says they will perform in “some shows here and there” on the world tour to support “Wonderful Wonderful,” but they felt they could afford to take a breather after amassing an estimated 22 million in sales on the backs of such memorable earworms as “Mr. Brightside,” “Somebody Told Me” and “When You Were Young.”
“Generally speaking, we have to respect everybody’s wishes and their energy level and temperament to want to tour,” Vannucci said during a brief phone interview from New York City.
“I’m not trying to throw Mark and Dave under the bus. They just needed a break to do whatever they wanted. Dave’s got a family. A two-year break sounded really good for Dave. He’s going to have a 13-year-old coming up and I don’t want to get into his business, but he wants to raise that kid. That’s his vibe now and I can’t fault anybody for wanting to be a present parent.”
Stoermer, meanwhile, is heading back to college.
But all four Killers are still united in a Musketeers-type “all-for-one-and-one-for-all” partnership when it comes to the new record, Vannucci added.
“Brandon is definitely more of the driving force on this record, especially lyrically, having come around to tackling some really honest, really personal issues,” Vannucci said. “It’s forced him to be even closer with this record than on any other record.”
Vannucci points to “Rut” as one song that cuts particularly close to the bone for Flowers.
“Some of those issues were his wife dealing with depression and him being there for her,” he said.
Nonetheless, when it comes to the bigger creative picture surrounding “Wonderful Wonderful,” “We’re sort of in the trenches together,” Vannucci said.
“One song will be really heavy on one guy and another song will be lighter on that same guy. It’s all so situational … we’re all trying to get up the mountain together. Every record’s a little different and the processes are different.
“Songs and ideas come from different places. And that’s the fun part about it.
“A lot of people have a romance with how the sausage is made — that there’s some form or formula or some method about going about it — that’s how the scientist does it, you know? But it’s really not like that,” he said.
“We work really hard at it, but there’s a certain amount of leaving things alone to do what they’re going to do, which is good for us. We just sort of let songs or an idea grow and massage that message if it’s good enough to massage.”