Brandon Flowers - Flamingo

Recent forays into solo careers by indie figureheads have resulted in diverse, experimental music, like Kele from Bloc Party's recent album 'The Boxer', which shifted from his guitar driven music of old to a wholly electronic sound, or Julian Casablancas of The Strokes' genre-smashing 'Phrazes For The Young'. However, The Killers' Brandon Flowers has broken the trend, releasing new solo album 'Flamingo', which shows the frontman keeping to what he knows, with an album that wouldn't sound out of place in The Killers catalogue of work.

This, of course, is not necessarily a bad thing. The Killers are renowned for their anthemic songs, and this album certainly tries to recreate that, and sometimes succeeds. The opener, and much of the album, is centred around Flowers' hometown of Las Vegas. 'Welcome To Fabulous Las Vegas' is a slow-burning song that builds and builds, climaxing in Flowers shouting the song's title in an ode to his hometown. This song is one of the more anthemic songs, along with single 'Crossfire', which could easily fit alongside some of The Killers best songs. Lyrically it is also very familiar ground, with allusions to faith, gambling and broken romance.

However, this album is not without its flaws. Songs like 'Only The Young' and 'Swallow It' leave you feeling underwhelmed, as the thought of the songs taking off and finding their stride eludes them. The slow balladry feel to the album is clear throughout, lacking the guitar-driven sound that give The Killers their name.

It seems that maybe Flowers should have taken the chance to experiment while he had it, instead of sticking to the tried and tested methods he knows. This album will, however, keep the fans happy for now until The Killers return from their hiatus, but if another solo album is released before this, it won't quite be enough to keep the fans at bay.