In the heart of Tennessee, the Followill family creates new warmth and space through sound with ‘EP #2,’ a kaleidoscopic, kinetic four-track reverie – and Kings of Leon’s first independent release on their own label, Love Tap Records.

Stream: ‘EP #2’ – Kings of Leon

Kings of Leon have returned, gazing up at palm trees and finding solitude in the sunrays.

Warm, colorful flares of electric guitar and Caleb Followill’s charismatic vocal howl overlay images of beaches and mountains, flowers and wolves in the band’s tender new EP #2, surprise released in November via their own independent label, Love Tap Records.

​​Since their debut, Kings of Leon have been a singular and striking force – and one whose story goes far beyond the Top Ten. 2003’s Youth and Young Manhood laid the foundation for their signature, deep rock sound, featuring electric garage rock riffs, feverishly charged beats, and the indefatigable presence of brothers Nathan, Jared, and Caleb Followill together with their cousin, Matthew Followill. The band found their breakout through 2009’s fourth studio album Only by the Night, a global smash that cemented Kings of Leon as a household name around the world – showcasing notable tracks including “Use Somebody,” “Sex on Fire,” and “Notion.” Their journey has led to sensational heat, with worldwide arena tours and sales in the millions.

King of Leon’s ninth and latest album, 2024’s Can We Please Have Fun, explores conversations meant to lean into the temperature of days with slow mornings and easygoing afternoons. Setting the scene, “Ballerina Radio” features textures and grain reminiscent of a film photograph, with distortion and atmospheric effects that lead into “Nowhere to Run.” Every note from the six guitar strings controls the static of their narrative to claim the airwaves.

Each successive track encourages listeners’ engagement through sustained slurs in the guitar notation, producing extraordinary visual and sonic effects that set the work apart. Can We Please Have Fun carries emotional themes that connect to media, while also implementing modern innovations within the dualities of pain and experience in tracks like “Split Screens” and “M Television.”

I see all the airplanes
Flyin’ above me
I bet that they’re going
Someplace quite lovely
I dream about beaches
And drinks with umbrellas
And babes in bikinis
With greased-up gorillas, oh

No surprises, no retreats
Here come marchin’ to the beat
Little sheep
One, two, three, nah

Casting a new sonic warmth, EP #2‘s songs span a bright, light-filled opening through the palm trees, exploring the nature of freedom.

Each luminous tune is energetic and alive, evoking the wild spirit of being open to life on the journey. In contrast to the songs on Can We Please Have Fun, the four tracks of EP #2 explore space and time with a distorted grit and easy cadence. The sunlit reverb highlights this choice, and together with their signature hollow-body electric guitar tones, the band crafts yet another charismatic soundscape that soothes the mind and heart.

EP #2 opens with “All the Little Sheep,” featuring an infectious groove, punchy rhythm, and swinging vocals that draw you in to “dream about beaches.” Soaking in the sunrays, “To Space” carries refreshing tambourines as it shimmers on the daily distance between meeting expectations and the humility of reality. Savoring a slower pace, “Pit To The Rind” embraces slow guitar riffs and invites listeners to resonate with solitude and patience while embracing “gracious” and “kind” vocals. All of these elements calm the body with a cathartic presence and a soft, empathetic nature. Each glass slide sustains the sound waves for a melodic intention. The EP’s final tune returns listeners to the wild with an instinct like “The Wolf.” Jared Followill’s riveting drum pattern stirs the creature’s instincts; every texture offers “devils in the details” for personal introspection, all set to an intoxicating, upbeat groove.

It always comes back around
Never-ending story
The devil’s in the details
Of your faded glory
I called it a day
Had to have you over
’Cause something needed moving
And someone needed holding

Break in case of emergency
Better that it’s someone
close to you and me
Who can save us from ourselves
Animals is all we’ll ever be

Kings of Leon’s EP#2 pulses with an energetic strut, offering a bold taste of freedom from convention and introspection.

The band’s latest work expresses the story of fantasizing about what lies beyond reality. The spaces we inhabit in EP #2 mirror the relationship shifts and hardships humans experience on a daily basis. The sounds dissipate the frustration of the everyday as the music carves an authentic, intuitive connection through natural presence. This latest release marks a groove into the expansion of Kings of Leon’s discography, with a reverb that warms the heartstrings, driving them forward as the world anticipates the warmth of their radiant sonic glow.

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:: stream/purchase EP #2 here ::

:: connect with Kings of Leon here ::

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Stream: “To Space” – Kings of Leon

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 © Lachlan Duthie

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