That absolutely huge collaboration between Bruce Springsteen and The Killers is here and it’s as belting as you’d expect.

The Boss first dropped the unexpected duet news last week while speaking on Sirius XM’s E Street Radio and The Killers were all too happy to confirm the collaboration on Instagram afterwards.

And it hasn’t taken long for the song to make its way into the world, as per Pitchfork. Titled ‘Dustland’, it’s a new duet rendition of ‘A Dustland Fairytale’, a track from The Killers’ 2008 album Day & Age. ‘A Dustland Fairytale’ was originally written in the middle of Brandon Flower’s mother’s illness with brain cancer, one of the most personal songs he ever wrote.

The Killers announced the song on Instagram with a heartwarming story from their frontman Flowers, quoting a sweet message he received from Springsteen. Flowers endearingly didn’t believe it was THE Bruce Springsteen texting him at the time, not even when he realised the message was delivered from New Jersey, the state so synonymous with the artist and his music.

Melding human stories with powerhouse rock, there’s always been a touch of the Springsteen to the Las Vegas band’s sound so this collaboration makes a lot of sense. Their 2006 album Sam’s Town was claimed to be extremely inspired by Springsteen’s music. Flowers and the ‘Born to Run’ icon also sat down in conversation last year for Springsteen’s Letter To You Radio podcast series, discussing their influences and songwriting.

This song deserves to be played live to a stadium of thousands – let’s hope the pair are able to duet it in person soon. And given that The Killers have already teased a follow-up album to their last LP, 2020’s well-received Imploding the Mirage, maybe we’ll be hearing more of Springsteen and the band together in collaboration.

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