On Kings of Leon's 2008 breakthrough Only by the Night, the Tennessee band hit pay dirt by disguising sleaze-rock as sensitive rock, cloaking rapacious, occasionally downright vile sentiments in pining, skyscraping arrangements cribbed from U2. The doting affect in Caleb Followill's croon fooled millions. Never mind that he wasn't singing about needing somebody like you but rather about using somebody like you or, for that matter, that “Sex On Fire” wasn't about immortal love but rather one-off road head listeners around the world heard a romance in these songs that simply wasn't there.
Though it's similarly grand, Kings of Leon's new Come Around Sundown is a more varied, adventurous album than Only by the Night, introducing colorful, tropical tones that offset the overbearing machismo of Followill's predatory bellow. Lead single “Radioactive” is awash in the polyrhythms of Remain in Light-era Talking Heads, while the light funk of “Pyro” recalls The Police. It's a sound that works well for the group, though they hedge their bets nonetheless, pandering to contemporary country radio with the shameless prairie ballad “Back Down South” and the hokey closer “Pickup Truck.”
Also in stores this week:
* Hella drummer Zach Hill's second solo album Face Tat is a typically crazy mélange of dexterous prog percussion, skronk guitars and unidentifiable sounds, but there's a pop pulse underneath all the bizarreness. This is a parade of noise, not an assault.
* Bob Dylan releases the ninth installment of his Bootleg Series, The Witmark Demos, 47 tracks that he recorded between 1962 and 1964.
* Elton John collaborates with storied rock 'n' roll session player Leon Russell on The Union, an album with guest spots from Bono, Neil Young, Booker T and Brian Wilson.
* Having left the Barenaked Ladies last year, singer Steven Page releases the solo album Page One.
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* Liz Phair's confounding new album Funstyle gets a physical release. Who put up the money for this?
* And just a year after her silly crossover album She Wolf, Shakira releases the mostly Spanish-language Sale el Sol, which includes a dance cover of The xx's “Islands.”
