British singer/songwriter and musical legend Elton John has had quite the busy year. He just put out his latest record, announced a collaboration with Lady Gaga, and began a world tour at the age of 68. Now the storied composer says he is working with Brandon Flowers and The Killers on their latest record.
John has headed to the Killers’ home town, Las Vegas, to add a taste of his classic charm to their next album, according to a recent video interview with Shazam. The new album will be The Killers first since 2012’s Battle Born.
“I’m hoping to go to Vegas and write with Brandon for the new Killers record,” he said. “I’m leaving today. So that’ll be interesting.”
Flowers and John have been friends for some time. Flowers was the first guest on John’s Beats 1 radio series on Apple Music, Rocket Hour, and came back recently to talk about growing up listening to the legendary songwriter’s many classic albums.
In the same interview, John revealed that the pair often trade music, saying. “When Brandon makes a record — whether it’s for The Killers or on his own — he comes and plays me the album,” continuing, “Usually, I’m very happy and excited to hear it. And I usually play mine to him.”
Besides participating in a staggering amount of musical collaborations of late, John will perform this year to support his latest work, Wonderful Crazy Night, which came out on February 5. In his Shazam interview, he also talked about working with Kanye West and Fall Out Boy, and — ever the contemporary listener — his admiration for electronic musician Grimes.
Work might have already commenced on the latest Killers record, but when exactly the album will be officially released remains a mystery. That said, Flowers did reveal in a recent interview with NME that it might hit shelves (and the Internet) before the end of 2016.
Unless they make a quick job of it, the album will likely be released at the very end of this year.