Ronnie Vannucci

How do you follow a sold-out show in Hyde Park? By chatting to Rhythm! Ronnie Vannucci Jr lifts the lid on the return of The Killers and recording their mighty new album Wonderful Wonderful in a Las Vegas record shop

- David West

It’s the week after The Killers headlined a sold-out show in Hyde Park when Rhythm catches up with Ronnie Vannucci. The band are poised to release their fifth studio album, Wonderful Wonderful, after a lengthy hiatus (its predecessor, Battle Born, came out in 2012) but as the sea of people who flooded into Hyde Park bears ample testimony, they’re back with a bang.

“Oh man, it was crazy,” says Vannucci on the rapturously loud reception they received in London. “That was surprising to us. You never know, when you’ve been gone for a few years and you come back. Do people still care, or have they forgotten about you? We don’t get too high and mighty, too sure of ourselves.”

But Vannucci hasn’t been inactive while The Killers were on their break. He returned to his solo project, Big Talk, for their second album Straight In No Kissin’ in 2015. That said, he’s clearly pumped to return to action with The Killers and their new album sees the band join forces with producer Jacknife Lee, who’s worked with some of the biggest rock bands in the world, from U2 to REM, and pop stars Taylor Swift and One Direction.

“Yeah, of course, we need breaks too, it’s fine,” he says about getting the gang back together, “but I don’t know if I need a two-year break. Take a year off, that’s great. That’s enough time, I could finish my Master’s degree in less time, so it feels good to be back.”

Playing a show on the scale of Hyde Park, how fast is your adrenaline racing?

“Yeah, it’s a tricky thing, trying to funnel that adrenaline or fear into focused energy, rather than something that overtakes your body. I’ve been trying to do that over the years.”

Do you adjust your stage production for such a huge crowd?