When You See Yourself is best seen as a continuation of Walls, the 2016 album
Kings of Leon made with
Markus Dravs, a producer best known for his Grammy-winning work with
Arcade Fire and
Coldplay.
KOL retained
Dravs for this 2021 album and decided to delve a little further into atmospherics and mood, a move that feels timely and appropriate for a group that's facing the onset of middle age. The band can still work up a head of steam but it's for dramatic effect, not catharsis; they either push a song toward its inevitable crescendo or need a shift of tempo to give the record a richer, natural pacing. Settling into a deeply etched cavernous groove suits
Kings of Leon. Hedonism never did, not even in their wild early days, so the moody stateliness of
When You See Yourself showcases their knack for building melodrama. The downside to this gift is that the album can seem like an interconnected piece, not a collection of songs. Individual tunes don't float out of the ether so much as fade into another handsome moment that's distinguished by production flair as much as it is by melody or hooks. Perhaps that's a long term problem, as the songs don't linger as much as the vibe does, but that spacious, sumptuous feel is appealing as
When You See Yourself marches steadily to its conclusion. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine