SACHA PFEIFFER, HOST:
When Brandon Flowers was growing up, he fell in love with new wave music, The Cars, New Order, the Smiths. And he channeled those influences into his band, The Killers. With their debut album in 2004, they were a hit right from the start.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "MR. BRIGHTSIDE")
THE KILLERS: (Singing) Destiny is calling me. Open up my eager eyes 'cause I'm Mr. Brightside.
PFEIFFER: But Brandon Flowers had another influence in his life, a deeper one. It was his father's record collection, filled with classic country music. He hasn't really tapped into that side of himself until now. His new solo album is called "Thrasher."
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "PARADISE")
BRANDON FLOWERS: (Singing) So it's just another day in paradise, another raindrop in the sea.
PFEIFFER: Flowers isn't quite sure how his fans are going to react.
FLOWERS: There's that famous Walt Whitman quote - I am large, I contain multitudes. And that's the way that I described it to the fans is that, you know, I'm larger now than I was 20 years ago when I started this band and I was 21 years old. And I've just allowed room for these other influences. I would hate to just stick to one road.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "PARADISE")
FLOWERS: (Singing) I cared for my old man right until the bell rang. He never really cared for me.
It's a beautiful American tradition, country music and storytelling and this connection to people and to place. And I have those connections, and I have these stories to tell, and I just thought this was just the perfect vehicle.
PFEIFFER: This album has been described as the most personal collection of songs you've ever written. There's a song on your album called "One Of Us" that's really beautiful, really beautiful lyrics, especially for today when many people dwell on the negative. And this song talks about some of the simple joys that we take in life that we might not pay attention to if we're dwelling on the negative. I read that it's a tribute to a brother-in-law of yours who passed away suddenly several years ago. Assuming you're comfortable talking about that, how do you decide when something very personal in your life is material for your songs?
FLOWERS: He married my sister when I was 6 years old, so he's been my brother my whole life. And there's this grief that you see my sister carrying. And you want to pay tribute to it. You know, my job is to reflect things. And I tend to look for the beauty in things. I think I got that from my mom. And it really comes through on a song like "One Of Us."
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "ONE OF US")
FLOWERS: (Singing) You made an honest woman of my big sister. You built your house on stone. If we needed a hand or a crying shoulder, you picked up the phone. You were sweat of the brow from Sunday morning to the dust (ph). You were always one of us.
It's just, you know, you feel a sense of responsibility when you do it. But I always come out on the other side grateful that I did. And it brought me closer to my sister. And so it's always - it's a great exercise.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "ONE OF US")
FLOWERS: (Singing) That about just sums it up. Life ain't but a dream. It's a beauty cup (ph). Nothing stays the same. It'll make you cry. It'll make you cuss. You were always one of us.
PFEIFFER: You have another song called "Miss America" that the lyrics are somewhat harrowing.
FLOWERS: Yeah, that one's about another sister. We moved from Las Vegas to a rural town in Utah in 1989. And I was just 8 years old, but she would've been about 22 at the time. And she had three little girls already. And she was in a really scary relationship, highly abusive. And, you know, I had seen it firsthand and I had heard stories. And, you know, he was someone that I was scared of. And so, I like to think of Payson, Utah, as this amazing refuge that was just far enough away for her to escape. There was just enough, you know, miles that separated it from Las Vegas that she could leave. And so many women don't have that opportunity.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "MISS AMERICA")
FLOWERS: (Singing) The girls are doing fine, grandma's pride and joy. She wants to know when I'm going to give her a little boy. Dad says he sure hopes it doesn't come from you, on account of all this hell that you put me through. Last time he saw proof, it ended up in blood. My little brother watched. My mama cleaned it up. And you used to call me Miss America.
PFEIFFER: Did you feel like you needed her blessing to write that one?
FLOWERS: I definitely wanted her to give her seal of approval before we recorded it. So it was definite - there was a process of showing it to her, yeah.
PFEIFFER: I read that you've said, and this is a quote, "I used to think my experiences weren't interesting enough. It took a lot of living for me to recognize that my story was never just my own. Other people have felt these things." Tell me more about what you meant by that.
FLOWERS: Well, there's that great Scorsese quote, the most personal is the most creative. And I think when you're young and, you know, you want to be an artist or you want to be creative, you tend to look outside and not inside. I wanted to make grand gestures and use flowery language. And slowly but surely, as I get older, I realized that my language is beautiful and that I can speak about things in my own life. And I attribute people like, you know, Bruce Springsteen and Tom Petty to opening that door for me to be able to write about what I actually know about.
PFEIFFER: Is this an album you think you could've recorded as a younger man? Or did you need to age a bit before you could sing this kind of music?
FLOWERS: Yeah, absolutely had to do it later on in life. I didn't have the chops to do it when we first started. I didn't know what I was doing. But it's taken a lot of hours and a lot of determination to get to this point.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "PLANS")
FLOWERS: (Singing) When I stole away, on that three-lane headed south.
PFEIFFER: Going back, about your dad and his love of country-western and his influence on this, what has your dad said about this album?
FLOWERS: He loves it. He thinks it's going to take off.
(LAUGHTER)
FLOWERS: My dad's 82 years old. He's going to be 82 in November. And I think he's secretly been waiting for me to make this record all along.
PFEIFFER: (Laughter).
FLOWERS: He just said finally.
PFEIFFER: That's Brandon Flowers. His new solo album is called "Thrasher." Brandon Flowers, thank you so much for the time.
FLOWERS: Oh, thank you.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "PLANS")
FLOWERS: (Singing) So hold me in your arms. I think I'm going under. Take your time with my heart. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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