14. July 2025
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Media Review

The Killers – Pressure Machine

Florian Buechtingby Florian Buechting

The Killers - Pressure Machine

The Killers - Pressure Machine
4.6

Rating

 4.6/5

Flyctory.com Pros

  • Very versatile album
  • Great lyrics
  • Well produced

I am sorry, I am  just unable to review an album by The Killers without using the song name / word Human. So I did not with this one again. Pressure Machine is the reason for that, the new 2021 album by the band, just about a year after they released Imploding The Mirage. Here are my thoughts about the 13th August 2021 release.

 

 

The Killers – About The Artists

I already added some bio about The Killers in my first Flyctory.com review about their releases, the 2020 Imploding The Mirage one. I thus simply refer to this posting.

 

The Killers – Pressure Machine – Track by Track

The eleven track album lasts 51 minutes.

1. West Hills

The album starts with a deep, slow track, which comes with a touch of country and rock and deep lyrics about heroine and small town living. The album feels to catch me with its very first tunes – the song already starts special with the character represented in this track. Cool.

2. Quiet Town

Quiet Town is an amazing listen. It feels so much like a Killers song, but there is that Americana-country touch and Joe Pug on the harmonica gives a very special additional touch to the song.

In this quiet town, they know how to live
Good people who lean on Jesus, they’re quick to forgive
In this quiet town

3. Terrible Thing

The parking lot is rammed with shotgun pickup trucks
At the Jones Rubber plant where all the guys end up
Beer-drinking boy scouts living life like they ain’t stuck
On these quicksand streets with their girls in a sling
I’m in my bedroom on the verge of a terrible thing

The third song is one of the dramatic highlights of the album. Very slow, quiet, concentrated, the band describes the story of a teenager, who is just about to commit suicide. Deep story, beautifully written and arranged.

4. Cody

Small town life is the key topic of the album. Cody feels a bit like an R.E.M. or slow Tom Petty song to me. Again, struggling with a young boy’s life is a key topic in here. The chorus is a beauty.

So who’s gonna carry us away?
Eagles with glory-painted wings?
We keep on waiting for the miracle to come
Pour down the mountain like a heaven-fed stream

5. Sleepwalker

After a slow start, Sleepwalker is a song for long-time killers fans and people who love songs like Human. This song feels quite much like a Killers classic, but it still got that Americana touch in it. Another really cool listen.

6. Runaway Horses (feat. Phoebe Bridgers)

For Runaway Horses, California indie-rock artist Phoebe Bridgers is joining the Las Vegas origin band. Again, the song starts with a short spoken introduction, The song is a slow, fine and fragile song, based on an amazing vocal collaboration of Brandon Flowers and Bridgers. Very gentle sounds in the middle of the album.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KNZlW9wZsH4

7. In The Car Outside

But I remember when she used to set the room on fire
With her eyes, swear to god
It’s like a flood of grief and sorrow from a haunted life
When she cries, like a train, it’s a lot

Lyrics on point, melody on high level from the very beginning – In The Car Outside is one of the best songs of the album to me. And it comes with that Killers signature as well.

8. In Another Life

Is this the life you chose yourself
Or just how it ended up?
Is that the yard you pictured when
You closed your eyes and dreamed
Of children in the grass running through the sprinklers?
Being somebody’s wife?
Or were you living in another life?

The killers are on top level in this part of the album. I love the way they tell the stories around living in their very own musical way. Good one.

9. Desperate Things

Slow, a bit (too?) melancholic… Desperate Things slows down Pressure Machine again, but it creates a good sound and a deep atmosphere. Might still be hard for this song to stay in mind – others are just so good.

10. Pressure Machine

The title track is the second last on the album. A bloomy melody is supporting Flower’s vocals. A touch of folk in here, there are even some strings in the background.

11. The Getting By

The Getting By feels like the conclusion after having a ten-song look into life with The Killers. Another intense track. Good one!

 

The Killers – Pressure Machine – Spotify

Here is Pressure Machine on Spotify

 

The Killers – Pressure Machine – My View

Pressure Machine is a really good album by The Killers. I love the way they tell the stories in the eleven songs – coming with different moods and styles. There are nice references to Americana genres, faster and slower tracks – an enjoyable journey!

 

 

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