Dave Keuning might not be a name the average music fan would know, but even the most casual music fan would know his work. After spending nearly 15 years writing, touring, and performing with The Killers, guitarist Dave Keuning has stepped aside from the Las Vegas quartet to tread down his own path. Despite his three Killers’ bandmates each having released two solo records of their own, Keuning decidedly took his time before presenting his solo debut Prismism – and the wait was clearly worth it.
Lead single “Restless Legs” feels like it was written and designed solely to get stuck in your head. With an unbearably catchy guitar riff, addictive harmonies, and a noteworthy rhythm section, this track by itself works as a perfectly subtle reminder that, oh yeah, this is the musician responsible for writing the guitar riff to “Mr. Brightside.” Like the rest of the record, “Restless Legs” revels in synth-fueled, 80’s nostalgia that’s both warm and welcome to the current indie scene. Synthesizer on Prismism is never once used as an afterthought, but always as the driving force behind the melody and mood of each song.
While clear influences can sometimes weigh down a nostalgic-sounding collection of songs, Prismism’s influences only enhance Keuning’s direction. Delightfully nostalgic guitar reminiscent of The Cars pairs beautifully with catchy synth and Keuning’s effects-laden vocals on the album opener and single “Boat Accident.” The driving force of “If You Say So” recalls the iconic bassline of The Cure’s “Just Like Heaven” in the best way possible. “High Places” uses cool pedal effects and synth manipulation to create violin sounds and dramatic strings reminiscent of When In Rome’s 80’s classic “The Promise.” Album highlight “The Night” is a wonderfully moody combination of LCD Soundsystem-esque synth with early-Killers-esque guitar. Each throwback moment feels like a musical nugget meant to be discovered and enjoyed in a new context – and they all work.
Fans of The Killers who might lament Keuning’s recent departure from touring will find solace in the few tracks that recall the bombastic core of the Las Vegas band. “The Queen’s Finest,” allegedly a track that was once pitched by Keuning to his bandmates, feels like it would certainly belong on a Killers’ record. Fortuitously for us, it’s a bit of a blessing that Keuning kept it for himself.
The rhythm section is still strong without drummer Ronnie Vannucci, and the lyrics are sweet and heartfelt without Brandon Flowers’ songwriting. It’s a unique track in that it’s equal part grandiose in sound and incredibly intimate in tone. “I Ruined You” similarly opens sounding like a Killers song; driving guitar and shimmery synth perfectly pair to create a sound that could easily fit alongside radio hits today, or even ten years ago.
Despite all the rich and wonderful influences so apparent on Prismism, the album’s true highlights come in the moments when Keuning is most vulnerable and most clearly showing his true self. New to the lyrical game, there’s plenty of fresh turns of phrase like “You’ve got me so wound up / tearing me down straight from the ground up” that expose a bit more than Keuning’s heart. Tracks like “Broken Clocks,” “Stuck Here On Earth,” and “Ruptured” do more than hint at troubled relationships, a desire for freedom, and coming to terms with past arguments.
The chorus of “Ruptured” has Keuning questioning things that haunt and trap him just before he sings, “Time moves so fast somehow / The memories glow cloudy now / Heaven seems so far away / Some get rejected but some get to stay / Or so they say.” It’s difficult to avoid recalling choice lyrics from early Killers tracks “Somebody Told Me,” “Enterlude,” and “Exitlude,” which feature the lines “Heaven ain’t close in a place like this” and “Seems like heaven ain’t far away.”
Even more emotionally moving, “Stuck Here On Earth” combines Keuning’s personal love of outer space and all things sci-fi with futuristic sounds and hard-hitting lyrics. Recurring images of wanting to be free and escape a disturbing force pop up in lines like “My head’s in a daze, these things that I can’t escape / This high, these lows, how it ends nobody knows.” You get the impression that, through sweetly beautiful love songs like “Gimme Your Heart” and soul-baring tracks like “Prismism,” Keuning has found a new chance at life through love and making art. You believe his worry when he sings, “I wanna live free, I wanna live better / ‘Cause my heart beats, but it won’t be forever.”
Luckily, Keuning’s tone remains forever hopeful in its vulnerability. The acoustic album closer “Hope And Safety” hints that the songwriter feels saved by his new path in life, particularly when he sings, “In the name of, in the name of, in the name of hope and safety / In the hope that, in the hope that, in the hope that someone saves me.” It’s difficult to hear songs like this and not feel happy that Keuning has found his own peace.
Prismism literally and metaphorically depicts Dave Keuning as he’s never been before: fully and completely free. Each song feels like a small musical celebration of being able to explore something entirely on his own – and the payoff is truly something to be valued. Finally, after years of what appears to be tension and obscured, fraught relationships behind the scenes, Keuning has found solace in being vulnerable and fully himself. It’s such a privilege to finally and officially meet the real Dave Keuning.
Rating: 8.6 / 10
Highlights: “Restless Legs,” “Stuck On Earth,” “I Ruined You,” “The Night”
