The Cold Cut

Kings Of Leon- Crawl (Link 2) (Link 3) or download from the band (preferably).

Discuss: Kings Of Leon- Unstoppable?

Kings Of Leon will creep up on you. Just when did they get this big? "This" being "walk-in-the-park Glasto headlining" big and "trotting out brilliant albums every year" big. I get the simultaneously wonderful and terrifying impression that nothing can stop this band... Most optimistic fans weren't expecting to hear from the band until 2009, at the earliest. And yet, information trickled out of the KOL camp that a new album, 'Only By The Night' is to be released in the US on September 22.

Yesterday, NME broke the news that they would be doing an exclusive free download of a new album track 'Crawl' between the hours of 3-5 PM on Monday 28th July. And download I did. The album now feels within touching distance. You can head over to NME now (the download is still up).

So, the verdict? These boys can do no wrong. 'Crawl' is dirty, grimy and sounds like a direct progression of their 'Because Of The Times' sessions. They riff on pop culture, with the repeated chorus of 'Walk away, walk away', and there is even enough time at the end for a fitting guitar solo (an element largely left out of their music... until now). In short, this song is nigh-on perfect, and once again, they appear to be moving onwards and upwards. The question is, will the Kings ever hit a wall? On the basis of this and the three preceding albums, I wouldn't bet on it.

The album's first single is called 'Fri On Fire'. No news on the release yet, but a mid-August release woudl be the safe bet to allow the pre-album heat to build. The album can be pre-ordered via Amazon. The band are also embarking on a UK arena tour this Christmas:

Brighton Centre (December 1)
Nottingham Trent FM Arena (December 2)
Newcastle Metro Arena (December 4)
Sheffield Arena (December 5)
Glasgow SECC (December 7)
Liverpool Echo Arena (December 8)
Birmingham NIA (December 10)
London O2 Arena (December 11)
Bournemouth BIC (December 14)
Manchester Evening News Arena (December 16)
Cardiff International Arena (December 17)

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Radiohead- Nude
AmpLive- Nudez (ft. Too $hort & MC Zumbi Of Zion-l)
Nine Inch Nails- 1 Ghosts I
Downliners Sekt- Panic! Sonic Monk

Okay, Radiohead, its time to fess up. With 'In Rainbows', you effectively broke the traditional model for an album release. Now, the idea of a free digital album is commonplace, and distributors are beginning to get worried about their profits. Many artists are quick to turn around and state that they want to release their next album free of charge, but in reality it takes a lot of planning and a certain degree of popularity to pull this off (see Prince and Radiohead). This rule, however, was made to be broken, and its happening as we speak.

Over the last month, we've had free releases of the AmpLive remixes, the new NIN (Nine Inch Nails) album, entitled 'Ghosts I-IV', and the Charlatans release, 'You Cross My Path'. Those were the big releases, but you shouldn't forget Downliner Sekts' 'The Saltire Wave' and many other smaller bands chancing their luck with this new method of releasing music (hit up the links for the download pages). And more are set to follow. The old music infrastructure is being slowly broken up, and the labels are none too happy.

Normally, I wouldn't write about this, but one thing in particular has caused my change of heart. NIN, as well as releasing the album free, have also gone as far as uploading it to torrent sites included the industry-despised Pirate Bay. A brave move, and so the avalanch begins. Since I can remember, bands have taken the opposite approach (cough- Metallica- cough), sueing until they turn blue in the face. The public always prevail, though, but NIN must be the first big band to endorse illegal downloading. Its a big step, and has some interesting implications... I can already picture it: NIN's label suing the band for illegally releasing their own music.

And to the music? Well, of the free albums I've heard, the quality has actually been noticeably superior. Free of the pressure of 'going platinum' or similar goals, the musicians are able to develop their ideas fully, and spend time on elements that yould usually be discarded early on in the production process. Basically, more freedom=more quality. And who cares about solid sales when 'In Rainbows' went platinum in the first day, selling at an average $5. Those figures result in Radiohead pocketing $6 million in the first 24 hours...