After a lacklustre album and rumours of relatonship strife, southern rockers Kings of Leon have announced plans to mount a comeback.
The Oklahoma band of three brothers and a cousin will release their sixth album, Mechanical Bull, on September 24, Rolling Stone reported.
"I thought we were going to make a really mature album but I'm amazed how youthful it sounds. It's like a mix of Youth & Young Manhood and Because of the Times," bassist Jared Followill told NME.
Mechanical Bull will be the follow-up to 2010's Come Around Sundown, which received middling reviews from critics and fans. The tour to promote it ended in controversy when Caleb Followill walked out on a Dallas show.
After the incident, Jared tweeted: "I can't lie, there are problems in our band bigger than not drinking enough Gatorade."
The band had their weekend slot at the Governors Ball Music Festival rescheduled because of wind and torrential rain, but played one new song - Supersoaker - in a set described as "scrambled" in a Rolling Stone review.
- nzherald.co.nz