Kings of Leon talk upcoming tour and album, 'Sex on Fire' rise to fame: 'We got shots'

There’s a Harry Styles connection to the upcoming Kings of Leon album, however the latest music from the Southern rockers probably isn’t fit for a sushi restaurant.

Kings of Leon’s ninth album, “Can We Please Have Fun?” drops May 10. It’s the band’s first release on Capitol Records after previously calling RCA home. The album’s lead single “Mustang” is out now. A tour to support the LP kicks off Aug. 14 in Austin, Texas and wraps Oct. 5 in Bridgeport, Connecticut. Tickets for the 26 dates across North America go on sale March 1.

It’s also the first time Kings of Leon have collaborated with Kid Harpoon. Born Thomas Hull, he co-produced Styles’ 2022 release, “Harry’s House,” which won album of the year at the Grammys in 2023. Harpoon and the group began working a month prior to the big win.

“I have a little bit of a control thing,” lead singer Caleb Followill, 42, tells USA TODAY about creating music. He was joined for the interview by his brothers Jared, 37, and Nathan, 44 (his cousin Matthew rounds out the quartet but had a prior commitment). “This album in particular, I felt very close to a lot of it.”

The frontman initially thought the producer would be irrelevant for this album because the band was on the same page.

“Then when (Harpoon) came in, it was, ‘Oh he’s going to help us (get it across the finish line),’ Caleb recalls. “Then he won the Grammys, and then it was like, ‘Oh now we kind of have to listen to what he says.’

“But (him winning album of the year) never became a ‘thing.’”

The band knew a number of artists who worked with Harpoon, but were closest to Styles. Caleb even remembers signing a guitar for Styles before they met, which may have happened during the band’s meteoric rise to fame between 2008 and 2010. That period started with the release of their fourth album, “Only by the Night.” The album included “Sex on Fire,” which won the Grammy for best rock vocal performance by a duo or group and “Use Somebody,” which took home record of the year.

“I remember I was at a Mexican restaurant, with my wife,” Caleb recalls of that time period. The lead singer met Lily Aldridge in 2007 and they married in 2011. “I think our manager called me and said, ‘Hey there’s an interview we need you to do like, right now.’ I picked up the phone and it was Zane Lowe, and he was debuting ‘Sex on Fire.’

“When he introduced the song, even hearing it over the phone I was like, ‘Oh man. This feels different.’”

Followill knew things were about to change. So he did what any rock star would do: ordered shots of tequila to go with the margarita and tortilla soup that he and Aldridge were having.