Review Summary: The Kings of Leon certainly do not crack under the pressure of Rock 'n' Roll super stardom by making a truly memorable rock record.
The Kings of Leon may have just become what they’ve always been afraid of: popular. “I ***ing hate hipsters” lead singer and lyricist Caleb Followill told Rolling Stone in the October 2010 edition, but Caleb also said he “doesn’t want [Kings of Leon] to be one of these indie bands that makes one or two records and goes away.” “Come Around Sundown” is the 5th studio album (and newest) from the Kings of Leon and it boasts a big, rootsy, refined, arena-rock sound.
After the huge worldwide success of 2008’s “Only by the Night,” one would also think there would be a lot of pressure on the Tennessee quartet (made up of three brothers and their cousin) to reproduce that success. Caleb answered to the pressure by saying “a lot of [the album] wasn’t rehearsed. We don’t over-think anything.”
The album’s first song is ironically called “The End,” one of the “Sundown’s” strongest tracks; it opens with a cavernous drum beat and a booming bass (which bassist Jared Followill says is “the hardest bass line I’ve ever written”). Caleb’s vocals come in strong as ever, pounding out the words slow and powerful as if saddened or stricken with great remorse.
The album offers just two tracks that will likely grace the radio: “Radioactive,” a track yielding a frenzied bass line and a drum beat, and “Back Down South,” or “Southbound,” as drummer Nathan Followill calls it. “Southbound” is a chilled out, twang-y, ditty about home. The brothers Followill traveled up to Manhattan to record this album, far from their home in Nashville. “Southbound” is the band “going back to not only our roots as where we’re from, but also the type of band we’ve been from day one” said Nathan. At the end of the track, there is what sounds like a gospel choir in the background singing the chorus with Caleb. Guitarist Matthew Followill (the cousin) says “It was one of the best times we’ve ever had in the studio … all the crew, everybody who worked there was in the room [singing behind Caleb] with a couple of room microphones.”
“The Immortals” is perhaps the closest to a “centerpiece” that the album has, Caleb’s fantastic ability to sing powerfully slow, emphasizing not just the lyrics, but the emotion behind them is displayed wonderfully. “To me, perfect doesn’t mean perfect, it means having the emotion and to get the listener to really relate to what’s going on” said Caleb. The song is a ballad about self-identity and love and also one of the only songs Caleb wrote the lyrics to. “I wanted it to be something I could say to my children… at the end of the day before you’re gone, make sure you’ve loved.”
The latter half of the album sounds a lot like the Kings’ earlier work, especially their debut album “Youth and Young Manhood,” singing about partying, drugs, and not giving a damn, all over hard, aggressive southern-rock tunes. Songs about drugs (a track called “Mi Amigo”), money and excess (a track called “No Money,” ironically), and women (echoed in three tracks; “Pony Up,” “Birthday,” and “Pickup Truck”).
Overall, “Come Around Sundown” is a far-cry from 2008’s “Only by the Night,” but in many ways, continues to achieve what it did, popularity and big, marketable sound. Anyone who was expecting a reproduction of anything the band had done before is quite honestly, disillusioned. With “Come Around Sundown,” the Kings of Leon take their stripped-down, southern, garage rock sound and refine it into a big, arena-ready sound. The Kings are growing older, with their sound and voice, but their youthful carelessness and lack of direction has always been their signature and in this case, is the album’s greatest strength; no two songs tell the same story and each is its own journey.
All quotes are taken from an interview conducted by RCA Records (Except where noted).
