Single Review: Kings Of Leon – ‘Waste A Moment’
2 min read
It’s difficult to pinpoint the exact sound that Kings of Leon have fashioned for themselves that seems to build their artistic freedom and draw in a respectable fan base. Dainty sounds of punk music and southern, blues rock tipped with contemporary flair saw the band wield the power to be directly recognisable anytime they were given airplay. From early sounds heard In the plush lead vocal workings of Caleb Followill, to the near crisp shutters of instrumental synergy unleashed from the rest of the family band. It’s this that dampens the experience that is extracted from their latest single, Waste A Moment – a looming lacklustre effort in an otherwise promising path.
At most, the single seems a mile away from what Kings Of Leon fans are expecting after a 3-year hiatus. It boasts a buffering safeness in the flow, sounding more accustomed to a wide stadium filling region. It’s surprising in the bleakest of ways with mild hooks and bland instrumentation guiding the way for its 3-minute span, doing the best in providing a tedious and foreseen chorus backing cry. Existing fans may seem a little surprised by this, with their back catalogue sounding brittle and fine tuned – better revealing their shape and unparalleled musical aura. That’s not to say the song is completely insipid. The feeling, however, feels a lot more replicated against bands like Interpol, or Coldplay. It is hard to manage a full opinion that steers away from questioning if the band have chosen a completely new sound direction, perhaps gripping to a sound they have wanted to wield and hadn’t had the chance yet – or if they have purely busted out with a chart-topping safe haven in the form of a pop-rock monster. Selfsame basslines and swamped offhand modes felt throughout the vocals continue to stretch all corners of dull – failing to tempt anything in a head-turning capacity. It’s this that has acted as the band’s Achilles heel and is frankly comparably worse sounding to their unique sound that saw them own most of the mid-noughties, well into the next decade.
All with the new single tapping into a fierce and controlling idea that navigates around an easy and forcible reinterpretation of indie rock and pop efforts, the title is fitting, though. Kings Of Leon have wasted a moment to really serve up a single of worthy charm. What we’re left with is a re-used pop-rock taste in our mouths, more adjusted to soundtrack the opening credits of a Reese Witherspoon film.
