| Crossfire | |
| Cover: | Brandon Flowers - Crossfire Single Cover.jpg |
| Type: | single |
| Artist: | Brandon Flowers |
| Album: | Flamingo |
| B-Side: | On the Floor 2.0 |
| Recorded: | April 3, 2010 |
| Genre: | Pop rock[1] |
| Label: | Island |
| Producer: | Brendan O'Brien |
| Year: | 2010 |
| Next Title: | Only the Young |
| Next Year: | 2010 |
"Crossfire" is the debut solo single from singer-songwriter and frontman of The Killers, Brandon Flowers. Written by Flowers himself, and produced by Brendan O'Brien,[2] it is the first single from his debut solo album, Flamingo. A video for the single was released on July 8, 2010, and features actress Charlize Theron.
"Crossfire" first appeared when it was leaked online on June 11, 2010.[3] On June 14, it was premiered in the UK on the Zane Lowe Show on BBC Radio 1, where Flowers also gave an interview.[4]
A 10-inch picture disc vinyl was released in the US on August 3, 2010, featuring an acoustic version of "On the Floor" titled "On the Floor 2.0" on the B-side.On the week of the August 23 Brandon Flowers was officially the most played artist on the BBC, despite only having one song available for airplay. Crossfire was on both the A playlist for BBC Radio 1 and BBC Radio 2. On September 6 "Crossfire" was No. 1 on the NME chart and remained so through September 27 for several weeks.[5] [6]
The song received mixed reviews from critics. Rolling Stone gave the song two-and-a-half stars, saying it "sounds like a Killers B side — standard-issue Boss-meets-Bono dance rock, with Flowers serving up so much meteorological-metaphor fury, you'll want to call FEMA."[7] Of the track, Billboard said "Flowers simply follows the pop direction that his band has taken of late," and that "Flowers may sound a little too eager to assign an epic quality to his first effort as a solo artist, but 'Crossfire' still hints at a promising direction for Flamingo."[8] USA Today said of the song that "The Killers' frontman kicks off solo debut Flamingo with a soaring pop/rock anthem in the band's comfort zone."[9] Flowers said that it is his son Ammon's favorite song on the album.[2]
The music video premiered on July 8, 2010 on Vevo. It was directed by Australian film director Nash Edgerton and stars actress Charlize Theron.[10] The video features various scenes involving Flowers being tied up as a hostage. Theron kills several ninjas before rescuing him each time. The final scene shows Theron putting her arm around Flowers, while driving away with him in a pick-up truck.
In an interview with Fuse, Flowers revealed that Theron is a fan of The Killers, and that she was interested in being a part of the video. She also led him to Edgerton, who was ultimately chosen to direct the video.
iTunes download
Promo CD
10-inch picture disc