Following last year's 'pay what you want' experiment from Radiohead, this year's financial model of downloading money appears to be to give up even bother asking for any money. After both Coldplay and Beck gave away free tracks earlier this year, it's now time for the Followill clan to follow suit by releasing this first taster from their upcoming fourth album for absolutely gratis.
Crawl very much follows the Because Of The Times template, in that it's a bit of a slow burner, the guitar riffs are more fuzzy than pistol-whipping sharp and Caleb Followill actually sings rather than yelps. The first time you hear it you may well be overwhelmed, but given time it worms your way into your brain and refuses to leave. In this new fashion of building up excitement for the forthcoming album rather than releasing an old-fashioned single, they couldn't have done any better.
For a band so unashamedly retro in all other respects, it's a bit of a shock to see Kings Of Leon wholeheartedly embracing this new method of distributing music. But when the song's as sharp as Crawl, it's a very welcome shock nonetheless.
