Kings of Leon have released their new album WALLS. The band's seventh studio album comes three years after their 2013 effort Mechanical Bull.
The 10-track LP does not reinvent the wheel, but does provide a more unified sound that has been missing on their past few records.
WALLS does have a two-sided feel though. The first half is filled with powerful, arena-filling cuts that will be crowd favorites when they tour next year. Tracks like "Waste A Moment" and "Around The World" already have started to bubble up. The first half, notably the opener, "Waste A Moment," is built around very strong hooks with sing-a-long moments of simple, but memorable lyrics and well-written guitar licks.
Almost as if they got tired of their own exuberance, they switch over from stadium anthems to slower ballads half way through on "Muchacho."
The second half can drag with power ballads where lyrics don't always match the mastery of the instruments on this record.
Caleb Followill's voice changes from shouting to the top rafters of an arena to a sad longing on "Conversation Piece." There is plenty of potential for some acoustic covers that can be recorded and also performed live from this record.
WALLS is available to stream and pick up a copy on iTunes.
The group has announced preliminary tour dates in support of the album in 2017. They will kick off the tour at National Harbor in Maryland on Jan. 12 and finish on Jan. 28 at The Forum in Los Angeles.
01/12: National Harbor, MD @ National Harbor
01/13: Boston, MA @ TD Bank Garden
01/16: Toronto, ON @ Air Canada Centre
01/19: Philadelphia, PA @ Wells Fargo Center
01/20: New York, NY @ Madison Square Garden
01/22: Detroit, MI @ Fox Theatre
01/23: Chicago, IL @ United Center
01/25: Broomfield, CO @ 1stBANK Center
01/27: San Francisco, CA @ Bill Graham Civic Auditorium
01/28: Los Angeles, CA @ The Forum