The Killers start their largely festival-driven summer tour later this month, and they prepped their live show with a couple of dates in New Jersey last weekend — the first of which featured the premiere performance of the new song "Run for Cover."

As frontman Brandon Flowers told Q (via NME) earlier this year, the track was earmarked for the band's upcoming new album after sitting in the vaults for close to a decade. Originally written during the period leading up to 2008's Day & Age, it was set aside because, as he put it, "I never got the lyrics right and I think I’m gonna get it right this time."

You can hear the current lyrics courtesy of the fan-shot video embedded above, which offers an early peek at the record Flowers described as having "moments that feel heavier than anything we’ve ever done." Referencing boxer Sonny Liston in the lead up to the first chorus, one line finds Flowers singing, "He motioned me to the sky / I heard heaven and thunder cry / Run for cover while you can / Baby don’t look back."

The Liston namedrop in "Run for Cover" appears to be one of at least a couple of boxing allusions on the new LP — Flowers said another song pegged for the track listing is titled "Tyson vs. Douglas" — and a reflection of a tougher, more world-weary approach that Flowers feels befits where the band is now.

"Now it’s about re-imagining the Killers as men," he explained. "People with life experiences and blood on their hands, seeing what we look like with callouses and lines around our eyes."

The Killers Albums Ranked in Order of Awesomeness

More From Diffuser.fm