After putting out various short teaser trailers over the course of the previous week Kings Of Leon finally made a welcome return to the musical fray with a new song and video called 'The Bandit'. The double A-sided single, together with '100,000 People', is the band's first new release since the live version of 'Waste A Moment' came out in September 2017. KOL have popped up with various other live performances since then, most notably during the first lockdown of last year when they put out the live from Nashville video of 'Going Nowhere'.
At the same time as the new single dropped Kings Of Leon also announced that they would be releasing a new album in March this year entitled, 'When You See Yourself'. It's nearly four and a half years since their last studio album, 2016's 'Walls', and will be their eighth album to date.
'The Bandit' is a reassuringly typical Kings Of Leon song with a bluesy guitar underbelly providing a great platform for the Followill quartet, Caleb, Jared, Matthew and Nathan to build on. The Tennessee troupe provide the rockier of the two tracks on 'The Bandit' but it's not a full blown, thrashy number, it's a rather carefully controlled and moderated performance.
The grainy (mostly) black and white video that accompanies the new track is similarly reserved with each of the four performers taking to a corner of a square stage in the middle of a room. Kings Of Leon sound in good voice on this their latest record and their musicianship is clearly undiminished.
The last album was their first to top the Billboard 100, so there is a degree of expectation resting on the band's new album. On the evidence of the first two songs lifted from it they have little to worry about.