They may have only released their new album ‘Pressure Machine‘ today (August 13), but The Killers have revealed to NME that they’re already at work on a “heavier” new record – and that this one is likely to feature all four members.

The band’s previous record ‘Imploding The Mirage‘ came out last year and saw guitarist Dave Keuning sit out the recording sessions to enjoy some time at home at San Diego instead.

Keuning returned for ‘Pressure Machine’ while bassist Mark Stoermer was absent due to caution around the COVID pandemic, with the rest of the band wishing to rush through the recording process without “overthinking it”.

However, for their next album, it seems that The Killers might all return together for the first time since 2017’s ‘Wonderful Wonderful’.

“I’m just supposing here, but I think the whole COVID thing made people realise how good they have it,” drummer Ronnie Vannucci Jr told NME for this week’s Big Read cover story.

“There have been some really kind remarks that I’ve never heard from the guys before that made saying, ‘Hey, I don’t want to not be on a record any more – so let’s do this’. We’re very sobered up from the experience of being locked away. I do think that all four of us are going to be on this next record. We’ve already started messing around a bit, so that’s good.”

The band also revealed that they had already been working at Keuning’s San Diego studio on what Vannucci called “orphan songs” and some “beauties” to “figure out” what the next record might sound like after the more stripped-back and country-driven sound of ‘Pressure Machine’.

“It’s a little bit more canyon rock,” said frontman Brandon Flowers, “maybe a little bit more traditional Killers, I guess.”

Vannucci, meanwhile, added that he was expecting something “a bit heavier and more clench-fisted” than ‘Pressure Machine’, adding: “We were messing around on the stage for a virtual show the other month and it felt like there was this rock n’ roll thing happening. I could see us going in that direction: something a bit more energised.”

While there was little over a year between ‘Imploding The Mirage’ and ‘Pressure Machine’, the band told NME that the wait is set to be a little longer this time – unless the pandemic pulls them away from touring once again.

Read the full NME Big Read cover story with The Killers here, where the band also open up about returning to Flowers’ childhood hometown of Nephi, childhood trauma, drug problems across America, meeting Bruce Springsteen and collaborating with Phoebe Bridgers on the track ‘Runaway Horses‘.

‘Pressure Machine’ is out now. The Killers return to the UK for a lengthy stadium tour in 2022.