How Kings of Leon got their mojo back making Can We Please Have Fun

How Kings of Leon got their mojo back making Can We Please Have Fun
  • PublishedMay 25, 2024

Kings of Leon are having an interesting morning.

The multi-Platinum, four-time Grammy winning rock band have just completed an interview with “a sock with a cigar hanging out the side of its mouth.”

That’d be the “world famous Ed The Sock”, guitarist Matthew Followill clarifies. Once a fixture of late-night TV in Canada through the 1990s and early 2000s, the grouchy puppet now holds a radio gig on 94.9 The Rock Toronto.

Hey, that’s showbiz for you. And Kings of Leon would understand that up-and-down career lifestyle more than most.

There was a time the Nashville quartet were arguably the biggest, most bankable name in rock.

More specifically, it was probably around the time their ubiquitous 2008 hit ‘Sex on Fire’ topped triple j’s Hottest 100.

It marked the final steps in their evolution from one of the more exciting, raw-sounding figureheads in the early 00s rock revival into a stadium band with widespread commercial appeal. The shaggy mops and facial hair gave way to cleaner-cut looks, model girlfriends, and yes, designer vests.

Through the 2010s, when rock music was eclipsed in popularity by more cutting-edge sounds, the Followills also struggled with drinking and in-fighting.

They could still pack an arena and top the charts (half of their albums went to number one in Australia) but, with each new release, a sense of diminishing returns crept in: a discography of distinct highs-and-lows that struggled to recapture their past glories even as they sailed past selling 21 million records worldwide.

When it came time to make their ninth album, Can We Please Have Fun, the mission statement was right there in the title.

“That was Caleb,” drummer Jared Followill explains to Double J’s Tim Shiel.

“We were in-between record labels at the time so there was no pressure on us.”

“We’d done a couple of records where we’d put a tonne of pressure on ourselves to chase whatever we were chasing.

“[Caleb] was like ‘Man, can we please just have fun for this record? Let’s just enjoy ourselves and not put pressure on ourselves and set these high expectations.'”

The Followills were also looking to regroup for something lighter after the death of their mother, Betty Ann, in 2021.

Caleb, Nathan and Jarred each shared public tributes, describing her as “the strongest, sweetest, most beautiful woman in the world” and the band’s number one fan.

The group credit the collective loss to bringing them closer together with a renewed sense of purpose, happening a mere six months after the release of 2021 album When You See Yourself.

That relatively mellow album also saw Kings of Leon parting ways with RCA Records, the label that had shepherded their career ever since first signing them back in 2002.

Returning to their roots

The band’s origin story is a classic worth repeating. The Followill brothers — Caleb, Jared and Nathan — grow up in an itinerant, strict Pentecostal living under their evangelist preacher father.

After their parents’ divorce, they relocate to Nashville, discover punk and alt-rock, and recruit their cousin, Matthew, to form a band named after their late grandfather, Leon.

The band Kings of Leon huddle for a portrait against an old fire stove in the corner of a wood-paneled floor
The ‘Southern-fried Strokes’, Kings of Leon in 2003.(Getty Images: Paul Natkin)

Hyped as the ‘Southern-fried Strokes’, their countrified take on garage rock saw their first two albums — 2003’s Youth & Young Manhood and 2004’s Aha Shake Heartbreak — feted by fans and critics alike.

Interestingly, Can We Please Have Fun is the first Kings Of Leon record in some time that truly recaptures some of the rough ‘n tumble of those early albums, before songs like ‘Sex On Fire’ and ‘Use Somebody’ skyrocketed them to the big leagues.

Lead single ‘Mustang’ is all wiry energy and forward momentum, while ‘Actual Daydream’ is augmented by some dusty twang — a great fit for Caleb Followill’s whisky-grain yelp.

‘Nothing To Do’ goes full-throttle, reminding you of the riffs-and-rhythms punch that first caught people’s attention

Even the lighters-aloft arena rock moments, like the slow-burning ‘Ballerina Radio’ and ‘Split Screen’, seem to possess a bit more spirit and conviction.

The band credit the return to their sonic roots to producer Kid Harpoon, a fan of early Kings of Leon records despite being better known for his work with major pop acts like Harry Styles, Miley Cyrus, Florence and the Machine and Maggie Rogers.

With their rehabilitated sense of sound and purpose, Can We Please Have Fun became a kind of philosophical mantra throughout recording.

“That was the motto of the record and we treated it like a musical summer camp,” says Nathan. “We definitely had fun.”

Memories of touring Australia

Regular visitors to our shores, Kings Of Leon’s first visit was in 2004 for the late, great Big Day Out festival.

“The most debaucherous, fun,” recalls Nathan Followill.

“We were so young as a band that we’d never really lived the rock’n’roll lifestyle… It was amazing.

“Every flight you were on was every band from the festival, so even the flights were a party.”

Skipping America’s winter was also a thrill. Well… most of the time.

“I will say the worst sunburn of my life was in Australia,” says Nathan.

“I forgot to put sun block on the top of my feet. Played a show, took my socks off and a nice little layer of skin came off with my socks.

“I learned my lesson the hard way.”

The band also have fond memories of opening their 2022 national tour by taking over the Victorian town of Mildura.

“I loved seeing that part of Australia,” notes Matthew.

“We saw more of the town than you do of most towns.

“A really fun experience, would love to do that again.”

Around 10,000 people flooded the newly-minted Mildura Sporting Precinct for to witness a rare visit from an international rock titan to an oft-overlooked regional centre.

“The whole town literally came out to the show,” remembers Nathan, adding that a police officer told them offhand, “If there was ever a time to rob a bank in this town, this would be the day because all the police would be at the concert.

“Any time you can take over a whole town and became the main event… That’s pretty special and it makes you feel very blessed to get to do what you do.”

It begs the question: Will Australia fit into Kings of Leon’s tour plans for Can We Please Have Fun?

“I don’t know if by the end of the year, but I know Australia is definitely on the list for where we’re going to play this tour,” the Followills confirm.

“We love Australia and the Australian people, so if we get the opportunity, we’re there.”

“Y’all are great. Y’all are easy to talk to. You have senses of humour.”

And hey, it beats talking to a sock puppet.

SOURCE: ABCNEWS

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