Brandon Flowers at Echostage
Would you believe Brandon Flowers’s new solo album The Desired Effect is every bit as good if not better than anything his great new wave/rock band The Killers has put out in its first 11 years as a recording sensation? Once you listen to this varied, uptempo set, steeped in ’80s-era synth-pop, you will. All it takes is just one listen to any song picked at random — though you certainly won’t go wrong with lead single “Can’t Deny My Love,” or my favorite track, the ELO-esque rocker “Diggin’ Up The Heart.”
And then there’s the sharp new single “I Can Change,” a co-production with Swedish house duo Axwell & Ingrosso that briefly includes a spoken-word passage from Neil Tennant of the Pet Shops Boys while sampling Bronski Beat’s “Smalltown Boy,” featuring Jimmy Somerville’s distinctive wail. No, Flowers is not gay, he just sounds like it — getting by with a little help from his gay friends.
Flowers appears Wednesday, July 29 at Echostage, 2135 Queens Chapel Rd. NE. Doors at 7 p.m. Tickets are $35. Call 202-503-2330 or visit 930.com.
