When Brandon Flowers made a country solo album in Nashville, he did it with producers Jonathan Rado and Shawn Everett, the same guys who worked on the last two Killers albums, 2020's Imploding The Mirage and 2021's Pressure Machine. Those records saw the Killers lean into their heartland rock side, perhaps laying the groundwork for the path Flowers would walk down with Thrasher this year. Now, a song left over from those sessions has made its way into his solo show.
Flowers' UK tour rolled into Manchester on Tuesday. At O2 Apollo, he broke out a song Killers fans have been waiting to hear. "Diamonds On Black Velvet" is a grand, swooning Roy Orbison pastiche that lends itself beautifully to Flowers' vocal talents. "Even when she cries," he sings on the chorus, "it's diamonds on black velvet falling from the sky."
The Killers were toying with including "Diamonds On Black Velvet" on Pressure Machine at one point. The title came up during an Amazon Music video chat with Flowers and Ronnie Vannucci Jr. during the making of the album. But it didn't end up on the tracklist because it was "too romantic," Flowers explained in a subsequent Instagram Live. Now it seems likely to appear on the Thrasher follow-up due out next year, teased at the Bristol tour stop where he debuted "A Good Man Is Hard To Find."
Watch the debut of "Diamonds On Black Velvet" below in some exceptionally clear footage posted to YouTube.