As a closing track, one could call this Kings Of Leon’s Love Is Blindness and not be wrong. A guided tour into the fog of the unknown, it sounds as if one is hearing it at the moment of inception.
Matthew’s E-Bowed guitar rises like a cobra amidst minimalist bass and the clitter-clack of side-stick drumming. With a lilting guitar filling in the holes, Caleb sings a poem of sorrow and regret. He’s downtrodden, smashed to pieces, and his woeful yelp might just leave you devastated.
The song, like many in the KOL canon, follows the reverse blueprint set by the Pixies (and later adopted by Nirvana) of quietLOUDquiet. It’s a brilliant rock ‘n’ roll device, and one that Kings Of Leon use to wondrous effect.
As has been the case through the entire album, Matthew’s sterling guitar work is the centerpiece. During a breathtaking breakdown section, he plays an echo-drenched pattern that becomes a motif, one which he carries right on through to the final shattering chorus.