Lopez Blogs

And I'm not disappointed in the slightest. Because while Day and Age is probably the most consistent and brilliant of the Killer releases to date, it is also a very strong entry for album of the year in a year that has given me amazing high quality releases from Jason Mraz, William Young, Girls Aloud and a brilliantly fun packed effort from Same Difference (more on that tomorrow!). The album launches with Losing Touch which sets a statement that says "we ain't in Sam's Town anymore". It's vaguely reminiscent of Addicted To Love, and dig beneath the service, it's a dark haunting tune of falling off your path only to find it again. There is something mesmerising about the way B-Flo wistfully sings "impending doom, it must be true" during the middle eight before the Rock-FM chorus kicks in one more time with a guitar solo to finish. Then it's straight into the pet shop boys have an orgy with New Order tinged Human, it's an epic disco-synth number that not only gets away with preposterous lyrics (Are We Dancer - taken from Hunter S Thompsons supposition that America was raising a nation of dancers) but has a completely smashing middle 8 that ultimately slows things down before euphorically placing that enormous chorus over the inspired beats one more time. A top notch song that I am yet to tire of (though I'm not fond of the many remixes). Second single Spaceman shows that the band are entirely giving when it comes to choruses that are as chantable as they are singalong. It's all a bit bonkers really, but the crescendos really do soar in the spiffy chorus and B-Flo delivers the song with such passion and ardour that one can't help but shrug off his alien probing.

The only slight reference to the vast wasteland of Sam's Town comes lyrically in Joy Ride. "Headlights on a highway, desert winds are howling" sings LaFleur over a faux-80s funk beat which is a little reminiscent of Bowie, a little reminiscent of the Clash. It suffers a bit in placement between the very good indeed Human/Spaceman combo and the stunning A Dustland Fairytale. This must-be-a-future-single track starts with a gentle swagger as Brandon sings earnestly, almost fervantly about his parents. There is a faint but important piano contribution at various points in the background to the song, which adds to the pathos in the song. It may not be as immediate as some of their earlier hits, but much like Human, it's effortlessly rewarding the more you listen to it. And actually that's indicative of the whole album - it's an album that gives with each listen, in the choruses, in the carefully planned construction of the melody, sometimes in the lyrical meanings, but always giving back to the listener. I Can't Stay takes the most unlikely union of un-poplike instruments and makes them work because the melody is so lilting and insistent that it refuses to let you pass it by. The World We Live In starts off like a ballad version of the Alcazar hit of the same name before morphing into a syncopated 80s Moroder piece with some excellent synth adding much needed warmth to the track. It's the final track that cements the album's status as a great one - Goodnight, Travel Well is a song about a departed mother and the lyrics are dark, moving, and at times almost painful to listen to (the plea to "stay don't leave me" is quite haunting). It's a brave, downbeat ending to an album that solidifies the Killers as one of the greatest bands in the world today...