The Killers’ Brandon Flowers will release “Crossfire”, the first single from his his debut solo album, on August 23rd on Vertigo Records.
“Crossfire” is taken from the album, “Flamingo”, which is itself scheduled for a September 6th release. Produced by Stuart Price, Daniel Lanois, and Brendan O’Brien, “Flamingo” is a brilliant 10-song collection from an artist whose voice and songwriting prowess have left an indelible mark on the music world. A rousing, epic rocker, the O’Brien-produced “Crossfire” is available to hear now on Flowers’ website – [link]. The video for “Crossfire” was directed by Nash Edgerton and finds Brandon joined by Oscar winning actress Charlize Theron.
While writing on the road during eighteen months of touring for The Killers' acclaimed, million plus-selling (UK), 2008 album, "Day & Age", Flowers originally intended for the songs on Flamingo to be the start of a new Killers album. When the band returned to their hometown of Vegas, however, they collectively decided to take an extended break, the result of having spent nearly seven years straight touring the globe. Not ready to put the songs he had written on hold, Flowers retreated to the band’s studio, Battle Born, ready to commit his songs to tape. He started working with producer Stuart Price, who had helmed the production on Day & Age, and eventually decided to invite his dream team of collaborators into the studio as well. This list included producers Daniel Lanois and Brendan O’Brien, both of whom immediately joined the project, as well as musician Jenny Lewis, who contributes backing vocals to two of the album’s ten tracks. With additional musical contributions by the producers themselves, Flamingo began to take shape.
The resulting album is exactly what fans have come to expect from Flowers and then some. The record is simply a classic American rock album, full of extraordinary choruses, vast instrumentation and Flowers’ incredible voice, sounding richer and more diverse than ever before. Inextricably tied to Vegas in both showmanship and ideology, Flamingo is packed full of sparkling, stadium-ready songs that run the gamut from expert pop executions and forlorn electro dirges to gospel tunes and even blues-tinged rock. "Jilted Lovers and Broken Hearts," an upbeat arena rocker with the heartbeat of a dancefloor classic, employs gambling as an epic metaphor, while "Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas" doesn't make Las Vegas sound very fabulous at all. Indeed, there’s also denial, perfidy, absolution, spirituality and the limits of faith, each of which is explored in the album's other 10 tracks. Flowers transforms intellectual concepts into adrenaline overdrive on first single "Crossfire"; channels Roy Orbison's luminous falsetto to unnerving effect in the slide guitar-strewn "Playing With Fire"; and looks for second chances on "Only the Young," in which he offers the following haunting prayer: "Redemption, keep my covers clean tonight."
Brandon Flowers will be playing select live shows upon Flamingo’s release this September.
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