Brandon Flowers

FlamingoFlamingo **

Has Brandon Flowers plateaued with The Killers after just three albums? The release of his solo debut would perhaps suggest so – despite its similarity to his previous work. The accompanying press release's description, "stadium-ready songs", says it all, as does roping in Daniel Lanois (one of three producers here) to make these tunes as epic-sounding as possible. Jenny Lewis's guest turn on Hard Enoughadds some variety to Flowers's mild quiver, which peaks with a surprisingly good falsetto on the sombre Playing With Fire. But all too often, Flamingo sounds bland and dated, not least on the slightly cringeworthy Was It Something I Said?It makes sense that Flamingo is a paean to his hometown of Las Vegas: it's a glitzy spectacle on the outside, but mostly hollow at its heart. See brandonflowersmusic.com

Download tracks: Swallow It, Hard Enough