Kings Of Leon

Kings of Leon are back with the follow-up to the globally successful ‘Only By the Night’ which spawned mega hits like ‘Sex On Fire’ and ‘Use Somebody’. With ‘Radioactive’ already high in the charts it is obvious Kings of Leon are hugely in demand, and ‘Come Around Sundown’ doesn’t fail to deliver what the fans want. An initial criticism is that the new album doesn’t appear to have taken the band forward leaps and bounds from ‘Only the Night’, but then again as it was so successful you wouldn’t want to tinker too much. There is perhaps a big more ‘stadium rock’ in here; are the Kings of Leon gunning for U2’s stadium rock crown?? Talking of U2 musically tracks more than once veer towards the Irish quartets’ production sound – grandiose epics – ‘Pickup Truck’ is one such track, as is ‘The Immortals’.

I can’t quite find a ‘Sex on fire’ / ‘Use Somebody’ epic on here that future X factor wannabies will sing at audition – opening track ‘The End’ may yet if it becomes a single and gets the radio play; likewise the sparser, semi-stuttering ‘Pony Up’ has a catchy chord or two and chorus to match. ‘Mi Amigo’ is a good slower, stomping number that is an alternative to the guitars and drums found before it.

Also, for alternate sound ‘Back Down South’ (autobiographical?) is a strong track with a subtle country sound supporting Matthew’s unique vocals. This track could also be a future single as it builds with violins and other southern country sounds coming to join the party.

‘Come Around Sundown’ is a strong album; it was always going to be a hard follow up, but Kings of Leon have delivered another indie rock masterpiece.