Music magazine article analysis

I am looking at the article in NME, where Barry Nicolson interviews and discusses the new album, themes and issues with Kings of Leon.
When reading the article we can tell that the audience is probably aged between forty and fifty. We also get the impression that the target audience is predominantly male. We see this in many ways, from the sophisticated sentence structure to the use of profanities within speech; the audience is very much into rock music.
The heading, “The regals have landed”, is a pun. This immediate play on words suggests that the article is likely to be read by an older, possibly more intelligent people and mainly, those who know the bands music well.
This sub heading immediately shows us what the article is about and also what sort of person should read it. The sentence “but will their new found maturity destroy them?” suggests it is a serious article about the band and their music. It shows that it is chiefly based on the comeback of Kings of Leon, and not their social or personal lives. It also gets straight to the point, naming the band within the sub heading. This shows us that there is not likely going to be excessive amounts of unnecessary information contained in the article.
The start of the article focuses on a photo shoot of which the band is taking part in. This is also how the article ends. This is a good way in which the journalist is showing a clear start and end to the article. The ideas throughout all flow together and towards the end the reader notice that the article has gone in a full circle and is now backing to the start.
The style of the article is question-answer; however, this isn’t very obvious due to the constant use of asides and additional information. This gives the interview, and for that matter, the entire article a more sophisticated feel. Also the idea of having the language written in the exact dialect that it was spoken in makes it all seem more authentic and realistic. This allows the reader to believe it more, which will make the article more interesting to read.
The actual wording of the article includes predominantly more structured complex sentences and the use of a larger range of vocabulary. The range of verbs, for example, “nods” and “enquires” are all substitutes for the word ‘said’. All of these things are suggesting an older, more intelligent audience.
The mixture of direct speech and paraphrasing throughout the article shows how the band really feel without dragging out long and unnecessary sections of direct speech. This keeps the reader interested and makes them want to read on.
The article is set in the present tense which offers a sense of immediacy and importance. This is effective as the reader isn’t going to want to be reading articles in the past tense, as it suggests that it is now quite old and dated. The present tense shows that there is something new and different to read, in this case, the new album from Kings of Leon.
The influences of the journalist in this article mainly come from the common link between Kings of Leon and “regal”. He sees the band as royal which shows a great amount of respect for them. With this idea running through the article, the reader can see them in the same light.