The Killers – Spirit Review

With plenty of memorable tunes to their name, it is a stern surprise to hear The Killers launch into a forgettable piece of work. Spirit is just that, lacking its titular aim and falling in line with Your Side of Town. Two tracks seemingly solid enough to extract from recently aborted album sessions but not good enough to be pulled any further. Dump them on Rebel Diamonds and be done with it. Compilation fodder to bring their timely best-of to an even twenty. Ending a compilation of your best efforts over nearly two decades on a new track never released is a move of steely character. Listeners may forget the efforts The Killers often produce are bold and ambitious, though they lose their way from time to time with Your Side of Town. They do here too, on Spirit.  

Ripping the little flickers of Underworld’s Born Slippy intro and turning it into the usual spurn of broad, pop-ready indie touches, Spirit is fine. It is more of the same from The Killers and does well to steady a seemingly stagnant period. Well layered and almost U2 in its function of massive talents with Vegas orientation jamming away and throwing a little caution to the wind. Slick guitar work features within Spirit, a song which is thankfully backed by the titular feeling. Spirited, absolutely. But Brandon Flowers, as grand as his voice still is, lacks the weighty punch of something harsher or stronger when it comes to lyrical style. Live wires of living and the last chance felt, it is all the stock, standard notations The Killers so often provide. 

Brief and barely three minutes long, The Killers stick to a style which works for them. Poppy and heavily layered experiences are hard to pick apart as they all blur together. Twinkling efforts are not yet beyond the band which are like a Vegas version of Pulp, bright flashes of colour and a strong stage presence equate the two. Spirit has no presence though, it cannot just yet. It needs a little more power behind it and then, only then, will it feel its status as one of the better songs from The Killers in recent years. This is no different to their glory days but the consistency at which they push those similar-sounding pieces out is a tad tiresome. Heavier guitars feature throughout, reminiscent of all the hits, congealed and working as one.  

At least they are still on the move and understanding themselves as artists who can move and groove with little effort. The Killers form a slick new track here, a shame to hear the album it comes from was scrapped in favour of doing something else further down the line. But sometimes the changes of now benefit those of the future – and whatever The Killers have in store next is sure to be, at the very least, a respectable addition to their discography. Spirit is somewhat better than Your Side of Town because it sounds and feels interesting. It has a thicker skin to it, a tougher resolve which features some of the better Flowers lyrics of recent memory. A step in the right direction and a solid bookend to an equally enjoyable best-of compilation, Rebel Diamonds.