Brandon Flowers – ‘Crossfire’
People in hit bands start work on solo material for a variety of different reasons: sometimes it’s because they’ve got ideas for music which will not fit in with the basic thrust of their day job. Sometimes it’s because they’re not the lead singer, or the chief songwriter, and they’ve had all these ideas and need to get them out before they begin to feel bitterly hemmed-in by their bandmates. And sometimes it’s because the people in the day job band can no longer stand to be in the same room, and need to take a break before they start trying to punch each other’s facial extremities off.
Bearing in mind that 1) this doesn’t sound unlike the Killers, and 2) it’s by the lead singer of the Killers, and 3) he’s their lead songwriter, and 4) being hemmed-in can’t be the issue (see 1), would it be too much to wonder if Brandon’s journey into the solo zone has something to do with that last, fightiest option?
Actually, stuff it. I’m just going to go ahead and assume it. We’re never going to really KNOW, are we? They can SAY it’s because this was supposed to be a new Killers album but they were all too tired to make it, but we don’t KNOW they weren’t tying each other’s shoelaces together and putting clingfilm on the loo, do we?
Right then. Fisticuffs it is.
(Here’s the video. It’s adventurous.)
Of course, the other reason to go solo is because it just feels free-er to do it yourself. Certainly ‘Crossfire’ contains a bit less of that uptight, calculating, self-conscious pop boffinry that made some of the Killers’ more recent output feel less like fun and more like pop homework. This seems to be coming from a slightly more relaxed place, even though it has clearly still been made by a workaholic who can’t switch off.
The clues are there for all to see. The way Brandon starts to paint a familiar picture – widescreen pop with a cavernous boom, basically – and then throws in something unexpected and charming: just as soon as that chest-beating macho chorus kicks off, for example, he slips sideways into a cute, wispy falsetto. One minute addressing a nameless “we” with fire and brimstone, as if he’s preaching to a huge crowd, the next quietly imploring a special someone to lay their body down, in a sexy squeak.
Even the fact that it begins like a Killers Christmas song – often the loosest and most spontaneous-sounding of their musical output – is a sign. I’m not saying he couldn’t have done this with the band, but maybe part of the slight loosening of the Flowers necktie has come from not HAVING to make it work as a Killers record: not having to ensure it keeps the band in business.
On the other hand, maybe he just caught up with his sleep and wanted to bash out a few pop songs for a laugh.
Download: August 30th
www.brandonflowersmusic.com
BBC Music page
(Fraser McAlpine)
Spin Or Bin Music says: “He has finally found his voice which in return makes his songwriting more original and entertaining to listen to.”
The Skinny says: “It should come as no surprise that ‘Crossfire’ closely mimics the clean-cut stadia-rock of The Killers’ recent output.”
Muu Muse says: “There is also talk of devils and fire, and who doesn’t like religious imagery in their songs these days?”
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