[imagesource: The Killers/Instagram]

To be honest, I’m not really digging The Killers right now.

The shocking allegations of sexual misconduct levelled against the band and their stage crew by a former crew member has put, to say the least, a bit of a damper on their music for me.

That crew member describes in great detail the harrowing events that allegedly took place during The Killers’ 2009 US tour.

The current band line-up does differ from the original line-up, but putting that aside, they’ve released a new album, Imploding the Mirage, and the reviews are in.

The one from Variety is overwhelmingly positive, so I assume they’ve done something right.

Jem Aswad listened to it, describing their latest offering as a mixture of “pop hooks and heartstring-tugging anthems”.

The songs themselves are vintage Killers, often beginning quietly but driving inexorably to those yearning, multi-layered choruses that Flowers does so well, perfect for singing emotively with an impassioned fist over the chest.

Image: AP

The album’s 10 songs breeze by at a steady and efficient clip, never outstaying their welcome…Boss-like themes of breaking free, weight lifted and throwing caution to the wind abound in the lyrics.

The “big bang”, says Aswad, is reserved for the final track,’When the Dreams Run Dry’, which is hailed as the best on the album, and one of the “best things that [frontman Brandon Flowers] has ever written”.

Pitchfork agrees.

Take a listen:

While Aswad is gushing about the above, it doesn’t even get a mention in The Guardian, which prefers ‘My Own Soul’s Warning’:

The Independent can’t get enough of ‘Caution’, describing it as a classic example of “Flowers’s skill as a storyteller”.

As with all music, it’s subjective.

You’ll have to listen to the album yourself, to figure out what speaks to you.

[source:variety&guardian&independent]