Only By the Night, Kings of Leon’s fourth album, presents a new, more mainstream direction of the band. It is yet to be seen whether this will take away from their creativity or not.

Released in the United States on September 23, the new effort by the southern family band seems conflicted with itself. Much like their previous album, Because of the Times, Kings of Leon attempt to stray further away from their early career label of southern Strokes. What worked for the last album is absent in the new one. Gone is most of the southern swagger and hip-shaking run-arounds. Enter the solemn, spare anthems that warrant two minutes of anticipation before boredom ensues.

Before I cause confusion, the album does have its high points. The album starts of strong with creepy, powerful tracks like “Closer,” courtesy of keyboard melodies and scratchy, distant guitars. “Crawl” envokes a more manly, meaty version of vintage Kings of Leon. The distorted hardass bassline propels the mood, while lead singer Caleb’s circling, captive vocals put listeners on all fours. Coupled with a ripping guitar solo, the song is all we hoped the new album would be.

Songs more reminiscent of early Kings of Leon are countered by new folds that came out of their previous album. This second half is more in the vein of “Fans,” “The Runner,” and “Arizona,” but while those songs felt spaced, patient, and well-crafted, these new songs come off repetitive, empty, and plastic. There are the bland, emotionless epics “Use Somebody” and “Cold Desert.” Then there are motionless “I Want You” and “Notion” that leave you wondering whether anything happened during the course of the song. The band sounds flat in most of these songs, either due to stripped down guitars, overly active bass or the lack of groove so essential to their appeal.

The clearest examples, symbolic of the entire album are the second half tracks “17″ and “Be Somebody.” Both begin strong with catchy, moody verses, but lose their touch by the chorus, never developing an overall theme or interesting material.

Caleb often cites prescription drugs obtained after a scuffle with brother and drummer Nathan as the source of his development in lyrics. While the lyrics remain strong, the band forgot to spend time on songwriting. Unlike past albums, there is little effort in creating progressions. Instead, they go for cheap guitar and bass tricks, heavily relying on the consistent quality from Nathan.

Although this is not a failure for the brothers Followill, this was unfortunately a step in the wrong direction. Heres to hoping the brother’s next fight leads to a return of the grooving, sexing Kings of Leon we have all come to love.

Kings of Leon are currently on a North American tour running through the US and Canada. Check them out at DAR Constitution Hall in Washington, DC November 10 with We Are Scientists and the Whigs.

posted by Ben