4 minLive @ Atlantis is proud to announce American rock band Kings Of Leon will be performing
�.�live in concert on the beach at Atlantis The Palm, as part of their 2014 �Mechanical Bull Tour
�Mechanical Bull� is the band�s sixth studio album coming after a brief hiatus, and features the�
�.singles �Supersoaker� and �Wait For Me�, currently enjoying generous airplay on Dubai radio
�It was Kings Of Leon�s fourth album �Only By The Night� in 2008 that brought them
�superstardom with platinum sales, the number one single �Sex On Fire� and follow up single
�Use Somebody�. They headlined Glastonbury the same year and won Grammy Awards for�
.Record of the Year, Best Rock Song and Best Rock Performance
�Tickets for this unmissable concert go on sale at 9am on Monday March 24
from www.ticketmaster.ae and www.atlantisthepalm.com
�AED 380 REGULAR ADVANCE / AED 450 ON THE DOOR / AED 450 VIP
(AED 600 VIP (Access to raised VIP platform with exclusive bars and bathrooms
FOR TABLE BOOKINGS call: +971 55 200 4321�
�.This is a 21+ event and ID will be required
�For further editorial enquiries, contact Sarah Walker, PR Director at Think... Events, Marketing
PR at: [email protected] and +971 4 368 9977 &
The Kings of Leon hadn�t even started to think about making a new album when
they headed out to play shows in Australia and South Africa in late 2011. The�
four Followills � singer/ guitarist Caleb, guitarist Matthew, drummer Nathan,�
bassist Jared � had been on a fairly relentless grind for the preceding eight�
years, releasing five albums and touring the world dozens of times since�
emerging from Nashville in early 2003. They exhausted themselves to the point�
of needing a concrete break that summer, and they announced they�d be taking�
six months off after the Australia tour. The plan was to relax at home in Nashville�
� hang out with their families, play golf, barbecue, and not even touch their�
instruments. But these Kings never can seem to let more than a few months pass�
without writing new songs: Caleb sat down in his hotel room in South Africa and�
penned a pair of tracks that set the tone for their new album, Mechanical Bull,�
and there wasn�t really any stopping from there.
Those songs � a powerful strutter called �Temple� that consolidates all the�
best elements of the band�s first three albums into one of their most irresistible,�
signature-sounding bangers yet, and the soaring ballad �Comeback Story,� which�
injects trademark Followill humor into its otherwise heartbreaking tone ��
catalyzed an album that sounds like a more refined version of classic Kings. �We�
wanted to write songs that are like a little two and a half minute punch in the�
face,� Nathan says of the eleven tunes on their sixth studio album, which clocks�
in at an all-too-brief 42 minutes. �We wanted to make a record that as soon as�
it�s over, people want to play it again. I call this one our unofficial greatest hits,�
because it has a couple songs that will appeal to fans of every Kings of Leon�
album: If you�re a Youth & Young Manhood fan, you�re gonna love �Family Tree,��
because it�s funky and dirty and nasty. If you�re into A-ha Shake Heartbreak,�
you�re gonna love �Supersoaker.��
After they returned home from South Africa, Caleb discovered a musical sweet�
spot pretty quickly. �Once I found out my wife was pregnant, I would cook all�
day and hang out with her, and then I�d put her to bed at night and go to my�
office,� he says. �I have a little amp in there, and I�d sit there learning new chords�
and trying to push myself. I would know I was onto something good if the door�
would open and it was Lily going, �What is THAT? Record that!� She got me a little�
recorder and I started to find this zone where you could paint a picture without�
it having to be about yourself. It�s good to get to let your hair down a bit and lose�
yourself in a song.�
The following year, Nathan and Caleb joined guitarist Matthew in the KoL dads�
club, welcoming baby daughters in December and July, respectively. But Caleb�
had continued amassing song ideas, and by the time the Followills got together�
last fall, he listened back to his demos and found close to twenty ideas he felt�
good about presenting to the band. �I think Caleb was more surprised than any of�
us at how much we embraced the songs immediately,� says Nathan. �We went in�
the studio and he played like six of them in a row where we were like �YES!��
�There are more layers to this album than there have been before,� says Jared,�
who names songs like the hard-driving �Don�t Matter� and a sweetly sad track�
called �Wait For Me� as personal favorites.
�We were all secretly paying attention to what people have been saying about�
us � our fans and what they wanted to hear,� Caleb says. �We didn�t want songs�
sounding alike. We wanted songs to be anthemic in a different way than they�
had been before. We didn�t want songs to be all stretched out and reverby; we�
wanted it a little raw. We wanted it to kind of feel like, at times you�re playing�
with the only amp you have and the only guitar you have and you gotta make it�
work.�
The recording process was all about making shit work: The Kings had purchased�
a building that used to be a paint factory in a neighborhood Nathan describes�
as �the Hell�s Kitchen of Nashville.� They figured they�d use it as a rehearsal�
space for a while, and eventually convert it into their own studio. But after only�
a couple weeks of rehearsals they felt ready to start making the new album.�
The Kings invited their longtime producer Angelo Petraglia to come hear what�
they were working on and told him, �We�re gonna do the album here.� �He was�
like, �no way we�ll ever be ready in time,�� Caleb says. �We were like, �we�re doing�
it HERE.��
Since they hadn�t actually converted it into a studio yet, they didn�t have�
anything set up properly when they started Mechanical Bull, which they�
recorded over the course of eight weeks this winter with producer Petraglia�
and engineer James Brown. �What it looks like now compared to what it was, I�
would never have dreamed it,� adds Nathan. �It�s still only 50 percent done. The�
fact that we made our album there and it sounds as good as it does sonically is a�
miracle.�
�It was like our little clubhouse,� says Caleb. �The first month working in there,�
we didn�t even have furniture. It was the wild west � an open frontier. There�
was no right way or wrong way to do it, because it was the first record we�d done�
in there. But we did it, and honest to god it was so much fun.�
�I think taking a little break reminded us not just that we�re blessed to get to do�
what we do for a living at all,� says Nathan, �but it also reminded us of the type of�
music we can make when we�re all in the right headspace. Kings of Leon making�
a fun record, that�s what we are. That�s what made our fans fall in love with us in�
the first place.�
�.�live in concert on the beach at Atlantis The Palm, as part of their 2014 �Mechanical Bull Tour
�Mechanical Bull� is the band�s sixth studio album coming after a brief hiatus, and features the�
�.singles �Supersoaker� and �Wait For Me�, currently enjoying generous airplay on Dubai radio
�It was Kings Of Leon�s fourth album �Only By The Night� in 2008 that brought them
�superstardom with platinum sales, the number one single �Sex On Fire� and follow up single
�Use Somebody�. They headlined Glastonbury the same year and won Grammy Awards for�
.Record of the Year, Best Rock Song and Best Rock Performance
�Tickets for this unmissable concert go on sale at 9am on Monday March 24
from www.ticketmaster.ae and www.atlantisthepalm.com
�AED 380 REGULAR ADVANCE / AED 450 ON THE DOOR / AED 450 VIP
(AED 600 VIP (Access to raised VIP platform with exclusive bars and bathrooms
FOR TABLE BOOKINGS call: +971 55 200 4321�
�.This is a 21+ event and ID will be required
�For further editorial enquiries, contact Sarah Walker, PR Director at Think... Events, Marketing
PR at: [email protected] and +971 4 368 9977 &
The Kings of Leon hadn�t even started to think about making a new album when
they headed out to play shows in Australia and South Africa in late 2011. The�
four Followills � singer/ guitarist Caleb, guitarist Matthew, drummer Nathan,�
bassist Jared � had been on a fairly relentless grind for the preceding eight�
years, releasing five albums and touring the world dozens of times since�
emerging from Nashville in early 2003. They exhausted themselves to the point�
of needing a concrete break that summer, and they announced they�d be taking�
six months off after the Australia tour. The plan was to relax at home in Nashville�
� hang out with their families, play golf, barbecue, and not even touch their�
instruments. But these Kings never can seem to let more than a few months pass�
without writing new songs: Caleb sat down in his hotel room in South Africa and�
penned a pair of tracks that set the tone for their new album, Mechanical Bull,�
and there wasn�t really any stopping from there.
Those songs � a powerful strutter called �Temple� that consolidates all the�
best elements of the band�s first three albums into one of their most irresistible,�
signature-sounding bangers yet, and the soaring ballad �Comeback Story,� which�
injects trademark Followill humor into its otherwise heartbreaking tone ��
catalyzed an album that sounds like a more refined version of classic Kings. �We�
wanted to write songs that are like a little two and a half minute punch in the�
face,� Nathan says of the eleven tunes on their sixth studio album, which clocks�
in at an all-too-brief 42 minutes. �We wanted to make a record that as soon as�
it�s over, people want to play it again. I call this one our unofficial greatest hits,�
because it has a couple songs that will appeal to fans of every Kings of Leon�
album: If you�re a Youth & Young Manhood fan, you�re gonna love �Family Tree,��
because it�s funky and dirty and nasty. If you�re into A-ha Shake Heartbreak,�
you�re gonna love �Supersoaker.��
After they returned home from South Africa, Caleb discovered a musical sweet�
spot pretty quickly. �Once I found out my wife was pregnant, I would cook all�
day and hang out with her, and then I�d put her to bed at night and go to my�
office,� he says. �I have a little amp in there, and I�d sit there learning new chords�
and trying to push myself. I would know I was onto something good if the door�
would open and it was Lily going, �What is THAT? Record that!� She got me a little�
recorder and I started to find this zone where you could paint a picture without�
it having to be about yourself. It�s good to get to let your hair down a bit and lose�
yourself in a song.�
The following year, Nathan and Caleb joined guitarist Matthew in the KoL dads�
club, welcoming baby daughters in December and July, respectively. But Caleb�
had continued amassing song ideas, and by the time the Followills got together�
last fall, he listened back to his demos and found close to twenty ideas he felt�
good about presenting to the band. �I think Caleb was more surprised than any of�
us at how much we embraced the songs immediately,� says Nathan. �We went in�
the studio and he played like six of them in a row where we were like �YES!��
�There are more layers to this album than there have been before,� says Jared,�
who names songs like the hard-driving �Don�t Matter� and a sweetly sad track�
called �Wait For Me� as personal favorites.
�We were all secretly paying attention to what people have been saying about�
us � our fans and what they wanted to hear,� Caleb says. �We didn�t want songs�
sounding alike. We wanted songs to be anthemic in a different way than they�
had been before. We didn�t want songs to be all stretched out and reverby; we�
wanted it a little raw. We wanted it to kind of feel like, at times you�re playing�
with the only amp you have and the only guitar you have and you gotta make it�
work.�
The recording process was all about making shit work: The Kings had purchased�
a building that used to be a paint factory in a neighborhood Nathan describes�
as �the Hell�s Kitchen of Nashville.� They figured they�d use it as a rehearsal�
space for a while, and eventually convert it into their own studio. But after only�
a couple weeks of rehearsals they felt ready to start making the new album.�
The Kings invited their longtime producer Angelo Petraglia to come hear what�
they were working on and told him, �We�re gonna do the album here.� �He was�
like, �no way we�ll ever be ready in time,�� Caleb says. �We were like, �we�re doing�
it HERE.��
Since they hadn�t actually converted it into a studio yet, they didn�t have�
anything set up properly when they started Mechanical Bull, which they�
recorded over the course of eight weeks this winter with producer Petraglia�
and engineer James Brown. �What it looks like now compared to what it was, I�
would never have dreamed it,� adds Nathan. �It�s still only 50 percent done. The�
fact that we made our album there and it sounds as good as it does sonically is a�
miracle.�
�It was like our little clubhouse,� says Caleb. �The first month working in there,�
we didn�t even have furniture. It was the wild west � an open frontier. There�
was no right way or wrong way to do it, because it was the first record we�d done�
in there. But we did it, and honest to god it was so much fun.�
�I think taking a little break reminded us not just that we�re blessed to get to do�
what we do for a living at all,� says Nathan, �but it also reminded us of the type of�
music we can make when we�re all in the right headspace. Kings of Leon making�
a fun record, that�s what we are. That�s what made our fans fall in love with us in�
the first place.�
19 min
