Kings of Leon discuss their forthcoming tour and record, the success of “Sex on Fire,” and how “we got shots.”
The new Kings of Leon album has a Harry Styles song, but the band’s most recent release isn’t exactly appropriate for a sushi restaurant.
May 10 marks the release of Kings of Leon’s eighth album, “Can We Please Have Fun?” This marks the band’s debut on Capitol Records following its time spent as residents of RCA. “Mustang,” the album’s lead single, is currently available. The LP’s promotional tour begins in Austin, Texas on August 14 and ends in Bridgeport, Connecticut on October 5. On March 1, tickets go on sale for the 26 dates spread across North America.
Additionally, this is Kings of Leon and Kid Harpoon’s debut collaboration. Thomas Hull, who was born, co-produced Styles’ 2022 album “Harry’s House,” which took home the Grammy for album of the year in 2023. A month before to the major victory, Harpoon and the team started working.
Lead vocalist Caleb Followill, 42, says USA TODAY, “I have a little bit of a control thing” about creating music. their brothers Jared, 37, and Nathan, 44, accompanied him for the interview; their cousin Matthew completed the group, but he had an earlier appointment. “Especially this album, I connected with a lot of it.”
At first, the leader believed that since the band was in agreement, the producer would not matter for this record.
“Then when (Harpoon) came in, it was, ‘Oh he’s going to help us (get it across the finish line),’ Caleb says. “Then he won the Grammys, and then it was like, ‘Oh now we kind of have to listen to what he says.’
“But (him winning album of the year) never became a ‘thing.’”
The band knew a number of artists who worked with Harpoon but were closest to Styles. Caleb even remembers signing a guitar for Styles before they met, which may have happened during the band’s meteoric rise to fame in 2008 to 2010. That period started with the release of their fourth album, “Only by the Night.” The album included “Sex on Fire,” which won the Grammy for best rock vocal performance by a duo or group, and “Use Somebody,” which took home record of the year.
“I remember I was at a Mexican restaurant with my wife,” Caleb recalls of that time. The lead singer met Lily Aldridge in 2007, and they were married in 2011. “I think our manager called me and said, ‘Hey there’s an interview we need you to do like, right now.’ I picked up the phone and it was Zane Lowe, and he was debuting ‘Sex on Fire.’
“When he introduced the song, even hearing it over the phone, I was like: ‘Oh man. This feels different.’”
Followill knew things were about to change. So he did what any rock star would do: ordered shots of tequila to go with his margarita and tortilla soup.
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