exystence club

…The 10th album from the Tennessee rock veterans is distinctly different to its 2024 predecessor Can We Please Have Fun. While that album saw frontman Caleb Followill and co throw caution to the wind and embrace a feel-good sound, this sees them showcase their most vulnerable, stripped-back sound to date.
Originally, the record was set to carry the same larger-than-life approach that took Kings of Leon to headlining arenas and topping festival bills for years now. However, following the band having to scrap their tour earlier this year due to the singer breaking his foot, the band ultimately decided to go back to the drawing board and use the downtime to tackle some heavier subject matter that they previously pushed to one side.

Kings of Leon’s first EP, Holy Roller Novocaine, was the first official release from the Southern rock band who dominated so much of the noughties with their thrilling steel-wire sound. Now, they’re back with EP #2, a four-track romp with a chip on its shoulder and everything to prove.
The cover, a duplicated cherry-print pattern, looks like the sort of late ‘60s design Anita Pallenberg would have had printed on a cotton dress, and yet despite the psychedelia of the record – an attitude especially prevalent on ‘To Space’ – it’s soft; certainly not explicit enough to make EP #2 feel like a summertime album.
There’s a drowsy, skewwhiff stance they take on ‘All the Little Sheep’ that serves as a fault line through the rest of the record. It’s felt in…