The Kooks’ fans new and old were chuffed to hear that after a step back from the limelight, they returned with a bang with their fourth album, Listen, earlier this year.
Since their highly successful first album exploded onto the scene in 2006, offering up massive hits like Naive and She Moves In Her Own Way, the band has undergone various reinventions. For 2014 the four-piece are eschewing their usual guitar-heavy, Britpop indie flavour and experimenting with a new sound that intersperses soul and funk elements, complemented by lead singer Luke Pritchard’s unique vocals.
Down was released to acclaim back in April, marking this new direction for the band and, as Luke explained, “The whole thing felt much more natural.”
I (and probably all the other Naive-obsessed teens of the 2000s there) was happy to hear that not all of their original Kooks sound was quite lost on the night, and many a guitar change assured me that they weren’t letting go of their more catchy pop-tastic tunes.
Impressive set, great vibes, and a band brimming with charisma and character, they’re a long way off abandoning their indie roots as recent hype might suggest – but as a lifelong Kooks fan, that’s no loss to me.
