This will, I think, come to be seen as a transitional album, one foot in Hot Fuss, the other stepping purposefully, if not wholly convincingly, towards new sonic horizons. The talk of Springsteen influences proves partly true: Bling (Confession of a King) and Why Do I Keep Counting? keen with existential yearning for salvation, for a new frontier. But the band’s pop smarts are sparkling, too. Bones, Read My Mind and When You Were Young glory in their hook-savvy swagger, and show how superb this rhythm section is, how Dave Keuning can transform a song with a flick of his plectrum. But it is Brandon Flowers who commands the spotlight, his contributions thrilling and mystifying; the former as, with an Orbisonian catch in his voice, he sings Read My Mind; the latter when he mints a melody as beautiful as that song’s verse, then careers away in modulation. For all its two or three mishits, this is an extraordinary record, thrumming with hopes and dreams.

Mercury

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