Kings of Leon – Can We Please Have Fun (Album Review)

The 4-time Grammy Award winning Kings of Leon return May 10, 2024 with their new album Can We Please Have Fun. Their ninth overall studio album, a follow up to 2021’s When You See Yourself, as well as first since signing on with new label Capitol Records, it is safe to say a good deal of anticipation surrounds the release… even over two decades since the band first came together.

Looking back, Brothers Caleb, Jared and Nathan Followill, along with their cousin Matthew, joined forces in Tennessee back in 1999 to create some music. Aspiring to make something special, their sound quickly began to expand as they experimented with styles ranging from Southern, Garage, Alternative, and Pop Rock. Releasing their first of eight studio albums through RCA Records in 2003 with Youth & Young Manhood, it would eventually lead to the mega success of 2008’s Only by the Night, which not only topped international charts, but launched the band into a new stratosphere. Continuing along with one chart-topping album after another through to When You See Yourself, with Can We Please Have Fun the band return to the more raw sounds that made them chart-toppers for over a decade. 

An album which was preceded by three singles, the band first released “Mustang” on February 22nd to immediate acclaim. The record, produced by Kid Harpoon, a Tennessee icon that has worked with names such as Miley Cyrus and Harry Styles, immediately excavates a sound that brings Kings of Leon back to the seemingly unplugged and Garage Rock days that cultivated such a dedicated and ravenous fanbase; not to mention scores of musical hits.

Beginning with “Ballerina Radio” and culminating in the twelfth track, “Seen,” Can We Please Have Fun operates as a less polished and emotionally harsh, seat-of-their-pants rampage that is blowing through expectations and parameters. Exciting to hear, it brings you back to the early days of small stages, smaller amps, and the sweaty, funk-filled green rooms that dot the first days of Kings of Leon’s existence. As the record spins on, a musical kaleidoscope of influences and impressions, from The Black Keys to The Talking Heads to Otis Redding and The Rolling Stones, are also experienced.

At times, it is as if the notes being played become three dimensional shapes as they flutter and flit in my mind. This feeling pushes the music beyond simply an auditory experience, but into a more multi-sensory journey that does everything to your heart with expectation of ripping it from its cavity. A type of grunge with, at times, slight static, it utilizes a bass and percussion tandem that fires the record forward like a howitzer, playing the leading role throughout the duration of the album. Furthermore, Can We Please Have Fun also refuses to heed your emotional torment. Instead, Caleb’s voice glazes the instrumental ecstasy happening simultaneously, dragging you to the edge of a musical cliff and into note-filled dark caverns.

All this in mind, the crowning achievement on the record remains to be “Split Screen.” A slow rumble of emotions, supported and propelled by the methodic fingering of lead guitar, it becomes a journey of life where, even without lyrics, you would be captivated by the song. There is a feeling of hope amongst darkness, and a will that keeps moving forward to meet an emanating love that swiftly shifts into heartbreak. A poetic endeavor that would happily cohabitate with the works of Robert Frost and John Keats, “Split Screen” is a deep dive into the souls we all have, yet fail to successfully employ. In all, it is about the fact that we all are in this great world, afraid, unsure and failing to understand the capacity that we all hold.

When it is all said and done, Kings of Leon have returned to their roots on Can We Please Have Fun. They have eliminated the Hollywood synthesizers and tricks as well as hoodwinks that often sell records, but are a far cry from Rock-n-Roll. There is no fluff or added commercial effects that only serve to satisfy the suits of the industry here. There is only the Kings-doing what they do without apology and without the glitter and glamor that would better serve artists like David Bowie or Boy George. Just Kings of Leon, their instruments, and a whole lotta Rock-n-Roll, Cryptic Rock gives Can We Please Have Fun 4.5 out of 5 stars.