King of a Land is the seventeenth studio album from British singer-songwriter Yusuf / Cat Stevens, released on 16 June 2023 by BMG Rights Management / Dark Horse Records. The recording featured children's music and religious music influences,[1] and received positive reviews from critics.
Recording and release
Stevens worked on the album for over a decade before releasing the debut single "Take the World Apart" on 15 March 2023.[4] The title track "King of a Land" followed as a single on 25 April. On the same day, he addressed King Charles III ahead of his coronation with a 10-point list entitled Manifesto for a Good King.[5] The songs have a theme of peace, which Stevens considers a culminating theme of his career.[1] There were followed by a music video for "All Nights, All Days", released on 17 May 2023, that references Stevens' work for the soundtrack to Harold and Maude.[6]
Critical reception
King of a Land received positive reviews from critics noted at review aggregator Metacritic. It has a weighted average score of 82 out of 100, based on four reviews.[7]
Writing for The Arts Desk, Thomas H Green rated this release three out of five stars, writing that the music "combines his apparently effortless immediacy at acoustic guitar songwriting with an orchestrated opulence that sometimes pushes the sound towards the realms of musical theatre" and praises "the utopian Sixties-ish positivity, the desire for better, and the crisp, bright-eyed songwriting", but cautions that listeners' response to the album will "likely be define[d] [by how] they feel about his repeated and passionate belief in God, which permeates everything".[2] In The Daily Telegraph, James Hill gave King of a Land 4 out of 5 stars, stating that it "is unlikely to bring in legions of new fans" and criticizing the "monothematic" lyrics, but praising it for being "a lushly beautiful album from one of pop's master songwriters".[3] At musicOMH, John Murphy rated this release 3 out of 5 stars, writing that "the full band efforts that stand out most" and "while it's sometimes a bit too unassuming for its own good, King Of A Land does well to remind the world of just what a legendary songwriter Yusuf/Cat Stevens is".[8]The Times's Will Hodgkinson rated this album 3 out of 5 stars, writing that the album is fundamentally good, but it is missing the "unfulfilled quality that elevated golden age Cat Stevens from standard singer-songwriter fare and into the realm of artistic profundity".[9] In an 8/10 review, Uncut opined that King of a Land presents "lyrically teasing exercises in self examination... Yusuf breaks ground".[10] In Under the Radar, Frank Valish scored this album a 7.5 out of 10, praising Stevens' voice and the "exquisite" packaging of the album.[11]
In Hot Press, Jackie Hayden gave this release 9 out of 10, calling it "a welcome return to form" that showcase Stevens' "honeyed as ever" voice.[12] Writing for The Line of Best Fit, Tanatat Khuttapan gave this release a 7 out of 10, ending his review, "heartfelt stories such as these show – not tell; King of a Land does so in the last leg, but there's always a nagging wonder of what the record would've been had it done so throughout its entirety".[13] Henry Carrigan of No Depression summed up his review, "[King of a Land] contains no surprises, and fans of Yusuf/Cat Stevens will welcome an album that sounds like what they've come to expect. At its worst, its overproduced; at its best, the album is redundant".[14] Writing for Ultimate Classic Rock, Michael Gallucci states that "it's the more adult songs on King of a Land that work best".[15]
