Brandon Flowers - Flamingo

2.0

0.0 (0)

Ever hear The Killers ‘b-sides’ album Sawdust? Flowers’ first solo effort sounds, feels and looks a lot like that album, with smatterings of Sam’s Town thrown in for good measure, read our review of Brandon Flowers' Flamingo below.

Flowers decided to throw a bit at this album with Brendan O’Brien, Daniel Lanois & Stuart Price joining the Killers front-man for production duties. Channeling country music DNA and wannabe Springsteen song-writing style more than anything Day & Age or Sam’s Town offered up, this album sets most of its stories within the setting of Flowers’ Las Vegas.

Opening with the grandiose ‘Welcome To Fabulous Las Vegas’, followed by the very 80s-esque ‘Only the Young’, the album really doesn’t sound anything out of place from anything The Killers were moving in the direction of.

The country-lounge (!) twangs on Hard Enough, a duet with Rilo Kiley front-woman Jenny Lewis, is one of the stronger songs.  Followed by the equally musically-strong Jilted Lovers and Broken Hearts (if that isn’t a Killers discard I’ll eat the CD), comes replete with gratuitous gambling and religious lyrical metaphors (Why did you roll your dice? Show your cards?...You did a fine job of hiding/That crooked ace up your sleeve/You doubled down my direction). Another highlight on the album is the catchy Was It Something I Said?.

Magdelana is pure Vegas show-tune. The lead single Crossfire is a curious choice for a first release, not being the strongest effort on the album.

There’s plenty of filler on the album (On The Floor, Swallow It), whether it’s ego stroking or misguided song-writing, we’ll never know. Although a plausible conceptual effort from Flowers, it’s lyrical themes get a little silly and boring after a while. Musically, it is definitely a brave effort, but still gloriously pedestrian.

BRANDON FLOWERS - 'CROSSFIRE'

Editor review

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