Its undulating guitar phrase, rich raking chords and effervescent snare pattern combine lustily to propel Caleb into a chorus in which he recalls “reckless abandon/ run down and stranded” over warm, trebly stabs.
While most of the 11 tracks eschew hooky immediacy in favour of brooding atmospherics, and only three clock in under four minutes, The Bandit recalls the Followills’ youthful salad days, when they were lazily dubbed the ‘Southern Strokes’. It unfurls from a riff that’s almost post-rock in its glittering elegance to a fusion of tonal approaches anchored by a loping Calypso-tinged bassline. Drav’s hi-fi fingerprints are all over kaleidoscopic opener When You See Yourself, Are You Far Away.
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The first three songs are pretty stellar, and showcase the full breadth of the band’s appeal. At Drav’s encouragement, guitars are often saved for sparing, textural decoration, their producer’s collection of vintage organs and synths used to weave a widescreen landscape that’s immersive and sonically lush, if light on hits. While there are moments when the pin-sharp riffing and headlong charge that characterised their explosive whiskey-soaked 2003 debut Youth & Young Manhood rises to the surface, by far the dominant mood here is pensiveness, with ruminations on the relentless march of age the primary topic of discussion in singer Caleb’s sage character sketches. The Followills’ latest sees them trying to balance the wanton exhilaration of their earliest recordings with the arena-filling mega hits that studded their universe-conquering mid period and the sepia-tinged wistfulness they’ve eased into in recent years, notably on 2016’s WALLS, their first US No 1. And, despite the 10 months invested at Nashville’s Blackbird Studios with producer Markus Dravs (Brian Eno, Arcade Fire, Coldplay), this is not a radical reinvention. Written and wrapped up before the arrival of COVID-19 and America’s terrifying flirtation with apocalyptic meltdown, all apparently prophetic references to such events on When You See Yourself are purely coincidental.
It is not, however, despite initial appearances, a record overtly about the strange times we live in. With nearly 20 years and a career of vertiginous highs and lows in their rear-view mirror, Kings Of Leon’s eighth album is wrapped up in reflections on the passing of time.
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