Kings of Leon’s Nathan and Jared Followill joined Matt Wilkinson on Apple Music 1 today to discuss their intimate Apple Music Hall show in London on 7 December and their tenth album, O My Beloved. Previewing the venue, Jared noted that "the size of it is going to allow us to do some things that we don't always get to do," while Nathan declared, "I look forward to pushing the sound system to its limits," despite admitting small rooms spark extra nerves. "Something about being able to smell their aftershave, them being that close, it's like, oh man, they can smell my aftershave too," Nathan joked.
Reflecting on their deep British roots, Jared explained, "As humans, we're from Tennessee, but as a band, we're as much from here as anywhere else. This is where the band started, really." Nathan recalled bonding with British humour via Ricky Gervais’s The Office, "watching through our fingers, because we were like, oh my God, this is so brutal. But it was so funny." He also remembered their chaotic first UK gig at High Wycombe’s White Horse, where they waited outside their dressing room because "it's a gentlemen's club by day, then it's a pub by night"—prompting Jared to quip, "I was 15, so I'm pretty sure that's very illegal."
Discussing O My Beloved, Nathan shared that "by record 10, you've played every chord progression known to man," forcing them to "rely on what's moving you in that moment." Jared added that "the acoustic stuff just started to rise to the top" while recording stripped-back sessions away from industry interference. "They don't care about the demos, they care about the finished product. And then the demos ended up being the finished product, so jokes on them," Jared laughed.
Looking ahead to their 25-song setlist—where "the TikTok generation is reviving songs for us" alongside a "three-song block of this album"—fans can secure pre-sale access by ordering O My Beloved via the band’s UK store before 3pm GMT on November 16, ahead of general sale at 10am GMT on November 18.
