Kings Of Leon say making ‘Mechanical Bull’ helped them ‘fall back in love’ with being a band

Band also say they have material left over for a new album...

Kings Of Leon have said that making their new album ‘Mechanical Bull’ helped them fall in love with being a band again.

The band’s new single ‘Supersoaker’ is set to be broadcast on Zane Lowe’s Radio 1 show this evening (July 17) at 7pm, in addition to a lengthy interview about their new LP. Speaking about the process of making the record, which was recorded in their own studio for the first time, frontman Caleb Followill said: “It feels like it’s a shame that we waited so long to do it. We can go in there and rehearse or goof off.”

His bandmate, Matthew, added: “The pressure was really off of us on this last one. We were our own bosses. There were no bills because we bought the studio ourselves, there was no timeframe when it had to be done by. Us being able to take a break, we kind of got to fall back in love with what we loved about it in the first place, which was picking up your instruments and and playing and smiling onstage and actually having fun, and not feeling like it’s a job.”

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They also hinted that they had enough material left over from the sessions to start work on another LP straight away as there was “still a lot of material at the studio waiting” and that the “next record’s halfway done, almost”.

Speaking about whether they faced pressure making the album, meanwhile, Caleb said: “I think the last one took the pressure of us; ‘Come Around Sundown’ followed-up to what was at the point the biggest record of our career [2008’s ‘Only By The Night’], so going into this record it was like, ‘The monkey’s off our back, we don’t have that pressure of whether we’re going to be able to match what the last record did.’ We changed it up a bit on this record.”

The album is out on September 24. Bassist Jared Followill told NME in March of this year: “I thought we were going to make a really mature album but I’m amazed how youthful it sounds.”

Since then, Jared has revealed that the album is “more musically complicated” than the band’s previous efforts. In a Q&A with fans on Twitter last month (May 27), he also said the “vibe” of the record could be compared to their first two albums – 2003’s ‘Youth And Young Manhood’ and 2004’s ‘Aha Shake Heartbreak’ – but that the songs sounded like a “culmination” of all their previous work.

Before the album is released, the band will headline this summer’s V Festival. Taking place over the weekend of August 17-18 at Hylands Park, Chelmsford and Weston Park, Staffordshire, the two-day event will see the band take to the main stage alongside fellow headliner Beyoncé.

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