After almost six years of solid touring The Killers have taken a much needed break, leaving frontman Brandon Flowers to fashion his solo debut from songs he originally intended for the band. Though Flowers' easygoing voice and songwriting style obviously bear a resemblance to previous Killers work, there's none of the power or zest that have made the Las Vegas band such a success.

The first thing to note is that 'Flamingo' is a much lower key outing than anything Flowers has done with The Killers. Yes, The Killers have become progressively more demure over the last few years, but Flowers has taken it one step further, adding country rock elements and sprinklings of 80s cheese to these placid numbers. The simple country sway of 'Playing With Fire' has a sort of retro charm while the breezy electronics and straightforward harmonies of 'Only The Young' are pleasant enough, but neither really manage to come to a head. Thankfully, 'Jilted Lovers & Broken Hearts' has a good bounce that prevents the rolling pace from becoming too routine.

Sadly, the presumably purposefully camp 'Was It Something I Said?' is as naff as it is dated and even the agreeable Jenny Lewis can't add much character to the overdone, over-familiar melody of 'Hard Enough'. 'Flamingo' is by no means an awful record, but surely the man that brought us 'Mr. Brightside' and 'Jenny Was A Friend of Mine' can do better than this.