A number of songs into Kings of Leon’s new album, frontman Caleb Followill asks one thing uncomfortable: “Are we nonetheless having enjoyable?” The reply: sure, however perhaps in a manner you wouldn’t count on. Over twenty years after the Tennessee rockers launched their glorious debut Youth & Younger Manhood, Kings of Leons’ ninth studio LP serves as a contemporary begin for the band. It’s the sound of veteran musicians looking for a solution as they underpin their attribute gritty Southern arena-size garage-rock with surprisingly sleek-and-polished grooves. Following the band’s introspective 2021 LP When You See Your self, the band has enlisted the assistance of Grammy-winning producer Child Harpoon, who’s maybe greatest recognized for his latest work on Harry Types’ Harry’s Home and Maggie Rogers’ acclaimed 2022 sophomore launch Give up.
Recorded in Nashville, Can We Please Have Enjoyable eases into the nice occasions with some sudden sonic twists. Album opener “Ballerina Radio” twirls in glistening synths as Followill croons “I’m a masochist, I do know,” pulsing with Britpop-ish vitality and the sound of windchimes within the distance. The band dances straight into Pleasure Division territory on “Rainbow Ball,” with a propulsive bassline undulating behind Followill’s informal phrasing: “Get some/Powerful love/Sweetheart, it’s simply unhealthy luck.”
“Nowhere to Run” breaks right into a carefree, grooving bop, with a funk bass line dancing beneath poignant lyrics like “I state my case and hope for grace/Take my place/There’s a battle outdoors/We must always all get excessive and provides a kiss goodbye.” The following observe is the rollicking lead single “Mustang,” a enjoyable, quick, stone-cold Kings of Leon basic full with a shoutout to the band’s outdated stomping grounds in Nashville. The Kings additionally discover time to let unfastened and kick the occasion into excessive gear on “Hesitation Technology,” a rowdy rock & roll stomper that takes you again to their early days with crashing guitars and drums over Followill’s raucous howl. However these standouts are among the many few hard-rocking moments you’ll discover right here.
Drummer Nathan Followill lately stated the band’s new undertaking was extra “musically weak” than what we’ve come to count on from the Kings. They show that time by taking issues right down to a clean simmer, weaving between mid-tempo beats and the slinky guitars on “Precise Daydream,” and delivering a brooding ballad with “Break up Display screen.” The spotlight “Don’t Cease the Bleeding” exhibits one other decidedly subdued aspect of the band that they don’t all the time get to embrace; they forgo stadium-sized guitars for an unexpectedly minimalist observe, with Followill’s laidback vocal floating over horny, slick manufacturing and restrained percussion. Because it seems, generally having enjoyable doesn’t all the time should sound like a rager.
The mellow country-tinged slow-dance “Ease Me On” exudes a peaceable, straightforward feeling, with Followill singing “Ease me on/While you’re prepared, I’ll be prepared, regular, go,” because the band shuffles on with tranquil acoustic strumming. “At all times on my thoughts,” Followill repeats whereas sun-drenched guitars glow behind his tender vocal. The muddy storage opening of the ultimate observe “Seen” finally builds to an amazing choir of the Kings’ harmonies earlier than the music dissolves right into a soothing climax. Can We Please Have Enjoyable exhibits that these household rockstars aren’t afraid of change, they usually’re sliding easily into no matter their subsequent section will likely be.
