How Kings of Leon's creative 'Refresh', plus some advice from Harry Styles, shaped their new album

How does a rock band that was hugely successful in the pre-streaming era approach the process of picking a single in 2024? For Kings of Leon, the answer is: they don't.

“We don't know what we're doing,” declares bassist Jared Followill, then bursts into laughter when speaking to Advertising sign about the modern success process. The Tennessee quartet has been steadily releasing albums every three to five years since bursting onto the mainstream in the late 2000s with the crossover hits “Use Somebody” and “Sex on Fire,” both from 2008. Only At Night; the former won a Grammy for record of the year in 2010, while the latter's official US streams exceed 650 million, according to Luminate.

These hits helped grow Kings of Leon's audience during a very different iteration of the music industry. 15 years later, Followill admits that he and his bandmates (brothers Caleb and Nathan Followill, as well as cousin Matthew Followill) wouldn't even know how to attempt to replicate the crossover success of those songs.

For a new album We can have fun, out tomorrow (May 10), the band came out with shaggy rocker “Mustang” as the lead single due to their group formation, and the song has reached No. 3 on Adult Alternative Airplay and No. 5 on Alternative Airplay. But Followill says they could easily have gone with the mid-tempo of “Actual Daydream” or “Nowhere to Run” if that was the feedback they got.

“Our only rule is that we don't have any songs on the album that we'd be embarrassed if it were a single – so we try to make the album great because we don't know anything about the business side of things or the algorithms or the song will do well,” he explains. “Now, it seems like you just need a 15-second piece of a song to make it big on TikTok — slow it down, make it huge. But we don't know what works anymore, and I don't think anyone does… We just have to.” play ball a little and hope you're with the right people who know what they're doing.”

Kings of Leon have lined up a new cast of characters for their ninth studio album: after working with Markus Dravs on their last two full-lengths, the quartet tapped Kid Harpoon last year to helm the 2021 follow-up When you see yourself. Kid Harpoon was in the midst of a hot streak when Kings of Leon came along, having co-produced smashes like Miley Cyrus' “Flowers” and Harry Styles' “As It Was.” In fact, a recommendation from Styles helped direct the band to the veteran pop-rock producer after they had begun the writing process for the album at the top of 2023.

“We're friends with Harry and he's worked with him [Kid Harpoon] a ton and it was a big hit,” says Followill. “We met him and it was just the right vibe. He's almost childlike in the studio — so happy, trying everything, no negativity. He's not judgmental at all, so it was like I had a friend there.”

In the meantime, We can have fun is Kings of Leon's first album with new label Capitol Records, after spending nearly the first two decades of their career on the RCA roster. The band played the new album for future labels at Kid Harpoon's home in LA last year, and it was the pitch of Tom March, recently named president and CEO of Capitol Music Group, that they found most appealing. “He just seemed on board and bought in very quickly,” says Followill. “We're very hands-on, which can be strange for a new label that's excited to bring their own stuff to the table. But it's been great – they've been super supportive and it's been a great relationship so far.”

Kings of Leon will hit the road in August for a 26-city North American tour and will release visuals for each song We can have fun along the way. More than anything, though, Followill hopes listeners can recognize the new album as an evolution for the band — a looser, more playful entry in their catalog at a time when Kings of Leon could have stuck to a tried and true formula.

“We're not completely reinventing ourselves, but this is definitely a refresh,” says Followill. “It's been a gradual thing, but we've evolved and changed ourselves. We've put a lot of effort into letting people know that we're still here and we're not going to call it quits in 20 years, just trying to make a few bucks at the end. We're still trying.”