# Imploding the Mirage
**Imploding the Mirage** is the sixth full-length studio album by the American rock band the Killers, released on August 21, 2020 by [Island Records](https://www.edgepedia.org/island-records).[1](https://www.metacritic.com/music/imploding-the-mirage/the-killers) Produced by Shawn Everett and Jonathan Rado, it is the band's first album without founding guitarist [Dave Keuning](https://www.edgepedia.org/dave-keuning), whose departure made space for collaborators including k.d. lang, [Weyes Blood](https://www.edgepedia.org/weyes-blood), the War on Drugs' Adam Granduciel, Foxygen's Jonathan Rado, and Lindsey Buckingham.[2](https://music.apple.com/us/album/imploding-the-mirage/1502453888)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Artist / album | The Killers, sixth full-length studio release[1](https://www.metacritic.com/music/imploding-the-mirage/the-killers) |
| Release | August 21, 2020, Island Records; announced July 16, 2020[1](https://www.metacritic.com/music/imploding-the-mirage/the-killers) • [3](https://www.universalmusic.ca/2020/07/16/the-killers-announce-new-album-imploding-the-mirage-set-for-release-on-august-21/) |
| Production | Shawn Everett and Jonathan Rado[4](https://musicbrainz.org/release/a3d6eded-3860-49b2-bdbf-954a6799241f) |
| Guests | k.d. lang, Weyes Blood, Adam Granduciel, Lindsey Buckingham[2](https://music.apple.com/us/album/imploding-the-mirage/1502453888) |
| Lineup change | First Killers LP without founding guitarist Dave Keuning[2](https://music.apple.com/us/album/imploding-the-mirage/1502453888) |
| Cover art | Thomas Blackshear's painting *Dance of the Wind and Storm*[2](https://music.apple.com/us/album/imploding-the-mirage/1502453888) |
| Critical reception | Metascore 76 from 22 reviews (17 positive, 5 mixed, 0 negative); user score 8.7 from 151 ratings[1](https://www.metacritic.com/music/imploding-the-mirage/the-killers) |
## Background and recording
[The Killers](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-killers) announced the album on July 16, 2020, setting a worldwide release for August 21 on Island Records.[3](https://www.universalmusic.ca/2020/07/16/the-killers-announce-new-album-imploding-the-mirage-set-for-release-on-august-21/) Frontman Brandon Flowers, the band's singer and keyboardist, said he began work with a single visual in mind: the album's eventual cover, illustrator Thomas Blackshear's painting *Dance of the Wind and Storm*. Apple Music's album notes describe the record as evoking the scale and natural majesty of the American West, "like The E Street Band playing Monument Valley," and as a companion to 2017's *Wonderful Wonderful*. Flowers framed its outlook as deliberately hopeful: "I'm very interested in the optimistic side of things... It feels triumphant, like there are angels present."[2](https://music.apple.com/us/album/imploding-the-mirage/1502453888)
Recording took place at Battle Born Studios in Las Vegas and at Electro-Vox Recording Studios in Hollywood and Subtle McNugget Studios in Los Angeles; mixing spanned studios in Los Angeles and London, with credits including Dave Schiffman, Shawn Everett, [Flood](https://www.edgepedia.org/flood-producer), and [Ariel Rechtshaid](https://www.edgepedia.org/ariel-rechtshaid).[4](https://musicbrainz.org/release/a3d6eded-3860-49b2-bdbf-954a6799241f) According to the release credits, Flowers handled vocals and synthesizer, Rado played a wide range of instruments including 12-string and acoustic guitar, bass, celesta, harmonica, piano, and slide guitar, Ronnie Vannucci played drums, and [Mark Stoermer](https://www.edgepedia.org/mark-stoermer) played guitar.[4](https://musicbrainz.org/release/a3d6eded-3860-49b2-bdbf-954a6799241f)
The band's label framed the album as the follow-up to *Wonderful Wonderful*, the 2017 number-one album on which Flowers wrote songs of encouragement for his wife during her depression, calling *Imploding the Mirage* "the light after the darkness, the overcoming of sadness, that gives way to celebration."[5](https://www.universalmusic.com.br/2020/03/12/the-killers-apresenta-primeiro-single-de-imploding-the-mirage-seu-sexto-album-de-estudio/) Flowers had moved with his wife to [Park City, Utah](https://www.edgepedia.org/park-city-utah), near the mountains, where he said he reconnected with his emotions in a way he had not for years.[6](https://www.universalmusic.com.br/2020/08/21/the-killers-lanca-imploding-the-mirage-seu-mais-novo-album/)
## Songs
The album's ten songs open with "My Own Soul's Warning," which Flowers described as an unusual subject for a pop or rock song, repentance.[2](https://music.apple.com/us/album/imploding-the-mirage/1502453888) Metacritic's summary of reviews notes that it "slowly builds to a euphoric explosion, and the album never looks back."[1](https://www.metacritic.com/music/imploding-the-mirage/the-killers) "Caution," the first single, was released ahead of the album; Flowers sings "I'm throwin' caution" on it, and Pitchfork's reviewer heard the influence of early [Bruce Springsteen](https://www.edgepedia.org/bruce-springsteen) in the phrasing.[7](https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/the-killers-imploding-the-mirage/) A Guardian review of the single noted that the song tells the tale of a Vegas dancer's daughter trying to exit sin city, or "burn it down."[8](https://www.theguardian.com/music/2020/aug/15/the-killers-imploding-the-mirage-review-boss-business-as-usual)
Other tracks include "Blowback," with a rhythm one user reviewer likened to the old West through slide guitar, piano, and synthesizer, and "Dying Breed," which opens with a drum machine mixed with real drums.[1](https://www.metacritic.com/music/imploding-the-mirage/the-killers) "Fire In Bone" is Metacritic's top track from the album, and user reviews describe it as a slow burn toward a theme of hope and lending a hand when in need.[1](https://www.metacritic.com/music/imploding-the-mirage/the-killers) • [9](https://www.metacritic.com/music/imploding-the-mirage/the-killers/user-reviews?dist=positive) AllMusic's review highlights "My Own Soul's Warning," "Caution," and "Running Towards A Place" as standout moments.[10](https://www.allmusic.com/album/MW0003368057) On "Lightning Fields," k.d. lang duets with Flowers on the lovelorn track, which AllMusic said sounds like [Peter Gabriel](https://www.edgepedia.org/peter-gabriel) covering [Kate Bush](https://www.edgepedia.org/kate-bush), while Weyes Blood's Natalie Mering provides delicate backing vocals across the album.[10](https://www.allmusic.com/album/MW0003368057) Pitchfork described "My God" as a prayer and exultation that corrals a choir and Weyes Blood while Flowers pushes his voice toward unusual tones.[7](https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/the-killers-imploding-the-mirage/) The title track closes with the lines "Sometimes it takes a little courage and doubt / To push your boundaries out beyond your imaginings."[7](https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/the-killers-imploding-the-mirage/)
Pitchfork's reviewer, Alfred Soto, an assistant professor of communication at [Florida International University](https://www.edgepedia.org/florida-international-university), wrote that the band sequenced the album so that "the circumference of each mushroom cloud of a song expands as the album goes on," applying lessons about sustained ecstasy from previous producer Stuart Price.[7](https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/the-killers-imploding-the-mirage/)
## Critical reception
The album scored 76 on Metacritic, "generally favorable reviews," based on 22 critic reviews: 17 positive, 5 mixed, and none negative. Users gave it 8.7 out of 10 from 151 ratings.[1](https://www.metacritic.com/music/imploding-the-mirage/the-killers)
**Praise centered on ambition and energy.** NME gave 100 and called it "another dazzling statement of ultra-modern pomp." AllMusic's 90 review called it "a triumphant and invigorated rut-reversal that shines with a hard-won confidence." Variety's 90 praised songs that "begin quietly but drive inexorably to those yearning, multi-layered choruses." Rolling Stone's 70 called it the band's "strongest set of songs in years."[1](https://www.metacritic.com/music/imploding-the-mirage/the-killers) Pitchfork scored it 74, writing that it "has more bangers than a Killers album should 16 years after their debut" and that the band "remains as absurd, marvelously so, as ever."[7](https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/the-killers-imploding-the-mirage/)
**Mixed reviews targeted the scale rather than the craft.** The Guardian's Alexis Petridis, scoring 60, wrote that no song had "the undeniable hit quality of Mr Brightside et al" but that the songs work in anthemic style; he concluded that "the feeling that Imploding the Mirage is less than the sum of its parts persists long after it's left you exhausted."[11](https://www.theguardian.com/music/2020/aug/20/the-killers-imploding-the-mirage-review) PopMatters, the lowest score at 40, wrote that the album "promises dynamite rock 'n' roll yet delivers tepid synthpop." [The Observer](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-observer)'s 60 review noted that "if bombast is not your thing, this is not your band."[1](https://www.metacritic.com/music/imploding-the-mirage/the-killers) AllMusic's editorial review, while positive overall, argued the album is "even more of a Brandon Flowers solo record than Wonderful, Wonderful was" and that the production buries individual instrumental contributions in Keuning's absence.[10](https://www.allmusic.com/album/MW0003368057)
## Aftermath
The album was followed almost exactly one year later by *Pressure Machine*, released in 2021, a turnaround that Flowers attributed partly to the pandemic making the band uncommonly prolific.[12](https://uproxx.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/brandon-floewrs-reviews-every-killers-album.pdf) The band did not take the album on the road until 2022; Flowers later said the production and time that went into touring it contributed to delays in subsequent releases.[13](https://www.musicradar.com/artists/bands/we-thought-you-could-make-an-album-faster-on-the-road-as-you-are-working-more-with-computers-but-we-did-not-get-the-gratification-from-it-brandon-flowers-explains-hes-concentrating-on-solo-activity-this-year)
## References
1. [Imploding the Mirage by The Killers, Metacritic](https://www.metacritic.com/music/imploding-the-mirage/the-killers)
2. [Imploding the Mirage, Apple Music album page](https://music.apple.com/us/album/imploding-the-mirage/1502453888)
3. [The Killers Announce New Album Imploding the Mirage, Universal Music Canada (July 16, 2020)](https://www.universalmusic.ca/2020/07/16/the-killers-announce-new-album-imploding-the-mirage-set-for-release-on-august-21/)
4. [Imploding the Mirage release, MusicBrainz](https://musicbrainz.org/release/a3d6eded-3860-49b2-bdbf-954a6799241f)
5. [The Killers apresenta primeiro single de Imploding the Mirage, Universal Music Brasil (March 12, 2020)](https://www.universalmusic.com.br/2020/03/12/the-killers-apresenta-primeiro-single-de-imploding-the-mirage-seu-sexto-album-de-estudio/)
6. [The Killers lança Imploding the Mirage, Universal Music Brasil (August 21, 2020)](https://www.universalmusic.com.br/2020/08/21/the-killers-lanca-imploding-the-mirage-seu-mais-novo-album/)
7. [The Killers: Imploding the Mirage Album Review, Pitchfork (Alfred Soto, August 21, 2020)](https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/the-killers-imploding-the-mirage/)
8. [The Killers: Imploding the Mirage review – Boss business as usual, The Guardian (August 15, 2020)](https://www.theguardian.com/music/2020/aug/15/the-killers-imploding-the-mirage-review-boss-business-as-usual)
9. [Read Positive User Reviews for Imploding the Mirage, Metacritic](https://www.metacritic.com/music/imploding-the-mirage/the-killers/user-reviews?dist=positive)
10. [The Killers: Imploding the Mirage, AllMusic](https://www.allmusic.com/album/MW0003368057)
11. [The Killers: Imploding the Mirage review – an urge to surge, The Guardian (Alexis Petridis, August 20, 2020)](https://www.theguardian.com/music/2020/aug/20/the-killers-imploding-the-mirage-review)
12. [Brandon Flowers Reviews Every Killers Album, Uproxx Indie Mixtape (2021)](https://uproxx.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/brandon-floewrs-reviews-every-killers-album.pdf)
13. [Brandon Flowers explains he's concentrating on solo activity this year, MusicRadar (2026)](https://www.musicradar.com/artists/bands/we-thought-you-could-make-an-album-faster-on-the-road-as-you-are-working-more-with-computers-but-we-did-not-get-the-gratification-from-it-brandon-flowers-explains-hes-concentrating-on-solo-activity-this-year)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Music › Musical practice and theory › Popular music genres › Rock works, labels, discographies, awards, and infrastructure › Rock studio albums › 2000s onward rock albums*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license