Beloved One...
By TIM DAVID HARVEY
The 'Sex On Fire' crowd, that left the morning after the 'Only By The Night' monster hit, should have never skipped on the Kings Of Leon like they shouldn't an appointment with their urologist. Can you believe that album, following the big-three and hair beginnings of 'Youth & Young Manhood', 'Aha Shake Heartbreak' and the number one 'Because Of The Times', came almost twenty years ago? Those problems feel old yet? Since then, the Mount Juliet, Tennessee rockers have been crafting subtler, but sublime rock affairs. 'Come Around Sundown', 'Mechanical Bull', 'Walls'. All whilst the Followill brothers (Caleb, Jared, Nathan and Matthew) all became family men. After that, there was a brief break of five years before the post-pandemic 'When You See Yourself'. But it's only been two years since the Kid Harpoon produced 'Can We Please Have Fun', yes.
The music is much more meaningful and beautiful now for a band that find themselves somewhere between the constant playing Black Keys and the 'Perfecth' Queens Of The Stone Age'. Touring the modern Americana, they helped hone, these Kings have also managed to make a new album for their muses, their queens, with the dutiful dedication of 'O My Beloved' on a cloud pastel artwork of beautiful blue beneath the sea, adrift in memory bliss. This tenth, and top album from Leon, on Virgin records and their own LoveTap label is the perfect record for a nuanced November with the one you hold closest and dearest. Shot to the heart with the singles of the things that matter the most. 'My Whole World'. And the family amusement park video of 'KOYSAR'. An acronym urging you to "kick off your shoes and run" as Caleb breaks the fourth wall, waiting in line for a ride with his family.
They've found their sweet spot. Stripped-back and melancholic. It's a self-produced changing weather that you can see in the visualizer videos. Not to mention the second single, 'Cold Blue Dawn' that partners with The Weather Channel to offer a lyric video utilizing satellite imagery from NASA. A favour returned after TWC used the KOL's 'Pyro' track to help map a viral video of weather formations. And after all, in these stormy times, we know love and life forecasts the same. Yet from the harmonious 'Intro' to the 'Get You Down' lucky thirteenth track that puts this all down, the Kings of still have a hold. Still laying where you're lying. 'The Hand' offering "Talk the talk and make a bet/Make a wish you won't regret/Tells you after we grow old/We'll meet again on streets of gold", like Sting fields. Remember me?
A 'Rose' is also offered before 'Make It Count' strums electric like acoustic. You can really 'Feel The Love', even if it is somewhat lost between lines like, "Condensation on your limbs/I can hear the angels playing violins/Look at this weather, I checked it twice/You swore the storms had all but passed us by." 'Blue Jeans and Diamonds', meanwhile, is an American anthem. Whilst, 'Warm Company' helps while away the Autumn nights with your summer love. But don't fear that winter is coming in this game. This love, music and band of brothers are a 'Forever Endeavor'. "Spray the kids with the hose/Little things light them up/They're lost in the moment", word is bond. Weathered together. It's not a futile fight, for family, or the legacy of these Kings. It's theirs now, once masters and eras are owned, like another megastar of America, no stranger to Tennessee. On 'Pretty Thing' beloved ones are told, "You're such a pretty thing/Out there dancing 'round/Making a mess of me/In your evening gown." O my!
Playlist Picks: 'My Whole World', 'Rose', 'Forever Endeavor'.
Spin This: Kings Of Leon - 'Can We Please Have Fun'
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