Still on fire... rock Kings are ready to rule the stadium

Kings Of Leon When You See Yourself

The fighting Followills are back! The three hard-living brothers and their cousin from Nashville set the charts alight with Use Somebody and the carnal arson of Sex on Fire. But have they lost their swagger?

Not a bit of it. This is modern stadium rock at its most self confident; broad of appeal and uplifting in feel. The Tennessee foursome recorded their eighth album in a lockdown bubble and few rock fans will be able to resist its emotional sweep.

The Bandit captures the gritty essence of the band, full of bounce and vigour.

“Reckless abandon, rundown and stranded, must catch the bandit,” sings Caleb, a man who could make a shopping list sound passionate. 100,000 People positively pulsates. Jared’s brooding bass underpins lyrics that echo the frustrations of our closed-down lives: “Wide awake, encased in a dream, everything is not what it seems/All your time is heaven sent, days and nights all start to blend.”

The title track is equally dreamy, beginning with a simple guitar phrase which morphs into something close to tolling bells.

It’s a restrained, soulful number punctuated by jagged chords.

Matthew’s lead guitar work is most effective on Stormy Weather, with simple but enchanting notes that bend and stretch with the slow suppleness of an advanced yoga class.

At times, Kings Of Leon recall U2, not least on Golden Restless Age, an upbeat song with an atmospheric anthemic feel. On rockier workouts like Echoing, the four prove they can still party like it’s 2009.

A Wave builds into a tide, reminding us that these songs work best when performed to festival crowds. Let’s hope we don’t have to wait too much longer for them to prove that.

These 11 tracks show that the band once dismissed as “wannabe Strokes” are now kings of the world’s arenas.