I will start by saying I am a Kings of Leon (KOL) stan so my viewpoints on them are a little biased. With their 8th studio album, When You See Yourself, the Followill gang is retreading well-worn territory. A band staying within themselves is not a bad thing, as this earthy, slightly pop sound is what originally attracted most of KOL’s many fans, including myself.
The Kings of Leon sound is carried by the unique voice of lead singer Caleb Followill. While Caleb’s vocals are still a strong point, the instruments around Caleb can be so overpowering at times. On a few songs it is simply hard to hear him and harder to understand what he’s saying, see “Stormy Weather”.
All in all, When You See Yourself is not reinventing the wheel, or taking many chances at all, which makes for a fine album by KOL standards, but it is also an album that is less memorable with every listen. The album has two types of songs; the longing, reaching out for something, slow song and the percussive, uptempo fun song. Some of the uptempo songs such as “The Bandit” and “Stormy Weather” are not as formulaic as the bright, fun, but ultimately boring lead singles of the band’s past albums, but they are close.
On the other end of the spectrum, the album has a murderer’s row of classic KOL “longing for something” songs in “Supermarket” and “100,000 People”. Fortunately these two tracks are high points on the album, along with “Time in Disguise”, because Caleb’s vocals are allowed to shine. Honestly Caleb’s vocals should always be allowed to shine because the arrangements around the vocals are never groundbreaking. KOL only manages to really experiment with “A Wave” where the band plays with song structure to emulate the actual ebb and flow of a literal ocean wave.
If you are a fan of KOL you will probably like this album, even though the album feels like something the band could have put together in their sleep. The Kings of Leon have reached a level of maturity that allows them to produce music that is so squarely in their own wheelhouse. I will say, the KOL wheelhouse is a nice house, it’s very cozy, nothing to complain about, but at the same time there are no doors to exit the house and maybe explore something new, and no motivation by the homeowners to renovate the house and create something better.
Favorite Tracks:
- Supermarket
- Time in Disguise
- Claire and Eddy
Final Verdict: When You See Yourself is fine, but a little too familiar
6/10
TrashFire 