Kings of Leon have released the first single from their upcoming album WALLS, entitled “Waste A Moment”. The arena alternative group plans to release WALLS on October 14.
On “Waste A Moment”, the group enlisted new producer Markus Davis, whose production credits include work with Arcade Fire, Mumford & Sons and Coldplay. This is quite telling, as the new track pushes Kings of Leon’s already accessible sound in an even more pop-friendly direction.
The hallmarks of a typical Kings of Leon track remain firmly in place. Singer Caleb Followill’s voice is no less anthemic and world-weary. Chugging guitars still drive the tempo, and the percussion remains pure and simplistic. The problem lies in the track’s overall excess. Choruses soar, yet are cloying and stereotypically alt-rock sounding. Guitars bounce and drums pound catchy rhythms, yet do little to distinguish the track from previous work.
Followill clearly disagrees with this assessment.
“We’re in the best place we’ve ever been,” Followill told EW last month. “We’re enjoying what we’re doing, and we have a great relationship outside of making music. A lot of bands don’t make it this long, especially family bands. Right now we’re more excited than we’ve ever been to work.”
The singer/guitarist has high expectations for his new album.
We’re trying to change people’s perception of [us],” he said. “We have more depth on this album and more situations where we dipped our toe in before but never committed. Now we’re wanting to dive in. I know this is a pop-driven world and what we do isn’t necessarily at the top of the heap of music that people are listening to, but I feel like once people discover this album, it’s going to change them.”
Kings of Leon’s last album, Mechanical Bull, came out in 2013. The group have released seven full-length albums in total. Listen to “Waste a Moment” below.
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