No matter how much people on this side of the Atlantic adore Kings Of Leon (debatable), they should know that Europeans hear the band very differently. It’s one thing to like the Followills, but it’s quite another to like the Followills in a climate where little local artists like Coldplay and Radiohead pointedly praise their looks and sounds, and critically beloved sirens like Lykke Li and now Bat For Lashes try their best to stamp their spirits on the group’s tracks. Uncontroversial point: People take KoL seriously over there. As it turns out the Kings cuts are surprisingly malleable, or maybe just that Natasha is an adept sound shaper: Last week she stopped into BBC Radio 1′s Live Lounge and delivered an affecting and stripped, synth and tamborine take on “Use Sombeody” that you really don’t have to even know Kings Of Leon to enjoy. Earlier Scott had highlighted the internet-enabled bonus track “Daniel (Lo Fi Version)” (for Khan lo fi means chillier and more sparse, not low fidelity, but it’s OK because it’s great), and we have her Live Lounge verison of that for you, too.
Our friends in the UK can watch video of the performances at BBC Radio 1 (who also get credit for that Khan shot). Sorry US folks, but consider it payback for all those MTV embeds that work for us.
Two Suns is out now via Astralwerks.
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kings of leon are the demise of music. Absolute shit tunes.
you know what sucks is that i have been listening to them since their first album came out (bought it on the day it dropped) and still really enjoy them. but now the whole world is catching on and their music continues to get worse with every album. i still like their music and Youth and Young manhood is one of my top five favorite albums. why cant they go back to their shit-kickin style of straight forward rock and roll? Why?
take a look at that !!!!
acoustic cover for KOL song Sex on fire…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B2jDxRwmksM
That’s your opinion. Bob Dylan and Ed OBrien would disagree. And i’d take their opinion on music over yours any day of the week.
As for the cover, love it. So wistful and haunting.
)
one of the worst covers I’ve ever heard. she can’t even sing in key
Wow. Very nice.
Too bad Kings of Leon now suck.
Back when they were touring their second album, they were all rocknroll and awesome.
Now they sound like Pearl Jam* having sex with U2**.
Anal sex.
*Sucks.
**Sucks on a global scale.
i love kol, i’ll never be able to understand american’s failing to recognise how great they are…weird.
thanks for the songs. daniel is great and the KOL cover too. very ghastly.
in RE: to the new KOL, I would say that they are evolving and growing up. is it too much to expect their listeners to do the same?
KoL are great… I agree the new stuff is different, more radio friendly, but whatever it still has a soul to it. I have seen them a couple times and they are great live too.
i like KOL. yes, i do miss the rock of Youth & Young Manhood and Aha Shake Heartbreak, but i would never go so far as to say they suck. because they don’t.
they are changing, but they are doing good with what they are putting out now. and i’m praying that their next album has edge. U-S-A!
I love Youth & Young Manhood and Aha Shake Heartbreak, and I will go as far as to say they now suck. Their past two albums have been uninteresting and crappy, and with each new album they have gotten worse. They’ve turned into a TRL band all of a sudden. No thanks.
the kings lost their powers when they shaved their beards
All of us who were introduced to them back in the day know how awesome they were, but just because the new stuff is different and admittedly not as good, doesnt mean we can just jump ship. Those first two albums are the shit, no debating that!
i heard live the Daniel’s Lo Fi Version! Natasha sounds much better live! Honestly!
i uploaded a short part of her, unfortunately my camera deceived me last night
http://www.vimeo.com/4125071
and what’s wrong about you guys ??? You just say that you don’t like Kings of Leon cause they became really popular now right?? that’s the reason! At least they are not acting like U2 Or Coldplay. Their music is as brilliant as it used to be! Nothing has changed! Relax and be happy that more people started appeciate the good music!
the fact that they are popular is not the reason I am losing interest. its the fact that their sound is a little too pop for my liking now and if in some awesome stroke of genius they decide to go back to their rock n roll roots, all of their more recent fans will hate it thus keeping them from ever putting out another great rock album. i still have much love for them and even though i said their albums have been getting worse I still enjoy them.
im sure you dont like the New YYYs either!
MP3: Bat For Lashes – Kangaroo [This Mortal Coil Cover]
MP3: Bat For Lashes – Sweet Dreams [Eurythmics Cover]
MP3: Bat For Lashes – Use Somebody [Kings Of Leon Cover]
MP3: Bat For Lashes – A Forest [The Cure Cover]
MP3: Bat For Lashes – I’m On Fire [Bruce Springsteen Cover]
http://hayatbayat.blogspot.com/2009/04/bat-for-lashes-cover.html
I loved Kings of Leon. I was pissed when I heard Sex on Fire and then totally jumped ship when I saw the video.
She’s young and it’s not the end of the world.
personally, to me, I believe many people take KoL’s “easy-to-swallow” sound as music integrity. Musically they’re far too safe… whatever “indie” credibility they used to have has all be traded for formulaic Number 1 singles and albums. I wouldn’t go so far to say “THEY ARE SUCKS”, but they’re SO BORING. What could have been exciting is completely dulled by the fact I’d heard it all before on the early ’00 British Indie Scene… Strokes, anyone? Don’t get me started on their crazy, inane lyrics; just because you can string rhyming words together doesn’t mean you’re actually saying or telling something.
I think they’re don’t have such a large following in America because America are better “musically educated”. More people in America realize that they have this great indie scene that’s so fiercely creative and bold, and they don’t get sucked in so easily into this, what I call “Big 4 Rock”. And Americans know what true “Southern Rock” and “Garage” music is.
Now… what was the point of this p….p….post?
well i think Natasha sings beautifully and looks great too. she is also SO AMAZING live.
Really brilliant performance, lady. I love coming across this kind of unmistakably heartfelt music.