When the news came down the pike that the Kings of Leon were returning with a new album, their first in three years, I for one had to wonder what route they would take. Would they continue down the path they had been forging for the past decade in which they had been creating a fiery, grandiose cocktail of southern rock infused with U2-style anthems or would they be making a sharp zig left? It’s not like one could blame them for thinking a change in their sound might be a good move given the poor reception of their last album, Mechanical Bull. Well, we now have an answer of what the decision was and, thankfully, they chose to stay the course.
The band released the first single off of their upcoming album, Walls, on Thursday and “Waste a Moment” has all of the hallmarks of the Kings of Leon sound that fans have come to appreciate and love from the Followill boys. The bass line drives the song, the drums are hammering away, the guitars shimmer and the chorus explodes out of the pulsating verse. Ever since 2008’s Only by the Night, the Kings of Leon have been gearing their sound toward the big rooms of the world and “Waste a Moment” is certainly no exception. Who knows if the big rooms will actually be there when it comes time for them to hit the road to support Walls, but if they are, the boys will be ready.
Walls is set to be released on October 14, less than a month before the upcoming Presidential election, and if you didn’t think anyone in the band had been asked who they’re voting for, you’re crazy.
In an interview set to appear in the recently released issue of NME, Kings’ frontman Caleb Followill lovingly described the election as “a f*cking trainwreck” and going even further, he said that “what’s happening right now in terms of politics is kinda scary.” Followill added that while he doesn’t know who he is personally going to vote for, he knows that it’s somewhat of a lost cause in his home state of Tennessee, which is traditionally a Republican state and most likely to go to Donald Trump. Yet, just because his neighbors might be Team Trump, it doesn’t make him an automatic member of I’m With Her.
“I’m a voter and I vote, and this is the first time I feel like I don’t know if I can vote. Nothing that either party is showing is, I feel, going to be good for my child or my future. It’s f*cking hilarious. It’s fun to watch, though.”
That’s fair. Although I’d argue that it was fun to watch. Now it’s just getting kind of sad.
But hey, that new Kings song is really fun!
