The dominant feeling on ‘When You See Yourself’ is one of introspective contemplation. Take the funk-inflected bassline of ‘Stormy Weather’, or the seductive, nostalgic lyrics of ‘Golden Restless Age’, which muse on youth: “You’re only passing through a form of you / I look in your eyes and there’s a rage”. Kings Of Leon spend the whole album toying with what fans might expect – and clearly have great fun doing so. “One more night, one more night will you stay here,” Caleb sings on the album’s title track, urging for the world to slow down for just a moment – it’s surprising, refreshing even, from the frontman of what used to be the quintessential party band. There are meditations on growing older (the wistful ‘Fairytale’) and statements on climate change (‘Claire And Eddie’), interspersed with love letters to quiet, domestic romance.
It’s clever to introduce the new album to the world with this crowd-pleasing track, while more vulnerable ballads and lucid battlecries patiently wait in the wings. Lead single ‘The Bandit’ channels the playful energy of KOL all-timers ‘The Bucket’ and ‘King of the Rodeo’, with its earworm riff and vivid lyrics reminding us that storytelling, daydreaming about cowboys and reckless adventures has always been what the Followills do best.
Now, with record number eight, they’ve bottled everything learned on the road in the three (slightly more underwhelming) albums since, while still reconnecting with the best parts of what made the world love these boisterous, unruly rockers in the first place. It makes sense when you consider the band’s chronology: it was with their fourth album, the moody ‘Only By The Night’, that things skyrocketed for Kings Of Leon, with ubiquitous hits ‘Sex On Fire’ and ‘Use Somebody’ finally connecting with fans in the US. As Caleb says, the pouty bad boys of yesteryear are long gone. ‘When You See Yourself’ sees the Kings marry their interests old and new, finally embracing the mature, laid-back versions of themselves.
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