Over two decades since their foundation, Brighton indie-rockers The Kooks have cemented themselves as a key part of the UK musical landscape.
The band has spent years soundtracking people’s lives across the UK and beyond while continuing to push their sound forward. For frontman Luke Pritchard, the weight of following up their seminal 2006 debut Inside In / Inside Out could have been daunting. It was an LP which saw great success, selling two million copies and introducing the band’s unique blend of fast-paced, joyous rock, distinctive vocals, and coming-of-age storytelling to the masses. Songs like “Naïve”, “She Moves In Her Own Way”, “Seaside”, and “Ooh La” have stood the test of time, and the band’s signature anthemic songwriting still resonates with younger audiences today—evidenced by their seven million monthly Spotify listeners, most of whom are aged 18 to 24. Following their debut, strong follow-ups like 2008’s Konk and 2011’s Junk of the Heart kept the momentum going.
In 2014, The Kooks shook things up with Listen, marking the beginning of a new era of experimentation. Working with different producers and embracing new influences, this reinvention carried through to 2018’s Let’s Go Sunshine and 2022’s 10 Tracks to Echo in the Dark. Now, having announced their seventh album Never/Know, which lands on May 9 via Virgin Music Group, Luke is once again pushing the boundaries of what The Kooks can be. Born out of a need to connect with the band’s original creative drive found on Inside In / Inside Out, Luke took things back to square one: writing alone before bringing the songs to the band. The record’s impetus channels the same influences he grew up loving such as The Police, The Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan, and more. Never/Mind’s spirit harks back to The Kooks’ debut, yet it still offers something fresh.
Across the 11 songs, it’s a glorious body of work, boasting warm production, moments of serene, laidback soul, sprinkles of Motown, and jagged mid-tempo rock anthems. Pritchard self-produced the record, except for one collaboration with Josh Lloyd from Jungle. Speaking to 1883 Magazine for the third time—this time over Zoom on a sunny February morning from his home—Luke reflects on The Kooks’ lasting impact. As he relaxes on his sofa ahead of an evening flight to Australia for shows, he’s fully aware and thankful for the “zeitgeist” the band continues to ride, thanks to their signature sound that helped define indie music in the 2000s. But with Never/Know, he’s just as creatively fired-up as ever and ready to show the world this new chapter for the band.
In conversation with 1883 Magazine’s Cameron Poole, The Kooks’ Luke Pritchard chats about Never/Know, the Bob Dylan biopic A Complete Unknown, working with Josh Lloyd from Jungle, his relationship with Inside In / Inside Out 19 years on, and more.
Hi Luke, thanks for speaking with 1883 Magazine again. Let’s start with the new single, “Never Know”, I’m always fascinated by album campaigns and the decision behind which single to put out first, so why was this the right track to release first from the forthcoming record?
Yeah, it’s a really interesting one, isn’t it? I think I’m probably one of the worst people to choose these things. I tend to listen to people around me; I’m too close to it. But this one, it’s the title track of the record, and it’s a bit of a statement. I think it is a good ease into the sound of the record. I’m kind of starting to call the record like rock and soul. It’s quite a rock and roll record, it’s a guitar record but it’s warm, and got that kind of sunshine, Sam Cooke things mixed with The Police, that’s the kind of sonic range. I think the single sets the scene for the record for people.
We get a bit heavier in places on the album, but it felt like a good one. I think the message is cool as well. The song is just about living each day as if it’s the last and the kind of process, for myself, getting to a kind of peace in my life with that and trying to not to let the inundation of all these challenges, the world and everything else get in too much. And remember that with good people, life’s good. If you meet someone your whole life can change and we all have that. So, I think it’s a good message and so far, people dig it and you know what, it is my wife’s favourite track, so that’s good [laughs].
On the new album, Never/Know, you produced most of the tracks, except one which we’ll talk about in the next question. How has taking the reins on production helped you better yourself as a musician, and what have you learnt from producing this record by yourself? You have producer credits on the last two records but that was alongside the likes of Tobias Kuhn, and then Brandon Friesen & Chris Seefried.
Yeah, I did and with Inflow as well [on Listen]. With all those producers, It was interesting because, at the end of the process, I didn’t say, ‘Oh, I produce on this’. They all sort of went: ‘look, you’ve seen this through the whole way through, and we did it together’. So they thought I should have a credit there. Production is a kind of ambiguous term, isn’t it? To me, it’s just ideas, vision and budgets [laughs], things like that. It’s quite a big undertaking, but it felt like the right time for me. Like you said, it was more that I learned so much working with these amazing producers, and I had really gotten fairly good at setting out my ideas before getting in the studio So, I got a lot better at production myself. I think this whole album process for me was about finding my identity again because I had embraced this new way of working, which is not new anymore, but the collaboration aspect to producing music these days which is where the producer comes into the artistic arena. That hadn’t been the case with us before. They would be doing more psychology and sounds, but the songs and the arrangements were all done by the band.
I felt like, in some ways, I’d sort of lost myself in that respect, and I realised I hadn’t written songs purely on my own, for quite a long time. It was a natural thing to then keep the vision pure, and just do it myself. The guys were very supportive. We all know what we’re doing and also the whole idea for the album came to me on stage one night. I was playing a festival and playing “Ooh La”. People probably talk about this a lot but when you do a lot of shows, sometimes, you’re just thinking about other shit because we have played the song so many times [laughs]. But I think it’s so interesting, this debutism, and these songs I wrote in my bedroom when I was a teenager, and they connect in a different way, to some of our more produced stuff. I wanted to try and recapture that.
I thought it was the right time, 20 years on, and I thought that would be the best way. Almost put myself in a bit of an uncomfortable position, putting pressure on, not having someone else who can do a lot of stuff, and having to do it myself and do it with the guys. It was really challenging, but I think the results mean it is a bit more imperfect; there are mistakes, and there’s a lot of character in it. I hope.
You invited Josh Lloyd from Jungle to produce the album track “Echo Chamber” What was it like working with your friend in that capacity? Given he was on your future dream collaborative list you told us about back in ’22.
Yeah, Josh is incredible. We started with friendship first, so it was more like fun. A lot of time with these things, you don’t really know the person, and it’s like kind of speed dating situation. But with Josh, we were mates, and we just were seeing what happened. I think we both have a real mutual appreciation for each other’s music. If there was a pie chart for The Kooks and Jungle, there’s a kind of middle ground there. He has worked with Inflow, who’s first full production was The Kooks album, Listen. It was really through Inflow and I think it was just good.
I really like Josh’s style of working. He doesn’t overthink, and he’s just about being quite impulsive, stripped back and that was really inspirational. I think it’s a great song. He taught me a lot about production. I had done that song before we started the album, so all these people really helped. You just learn so much. So I did produce “Echo Chamber” with the band myself; we were just doing it, but his one was better, so there you go [laughs].
Since you’re a fan of The Rolling Stones and Bob Dylan, I can hear those influences on the record—especially on “Compass Will Fracture”, which is one of my favourite tracks. Were there any particular songs where you felt their influence the most on the LP as it does have a rock and soul sound.
Yeah, definitely. I mean, Compass is so stone-sy, It’s that spooky stonesy thing. Circling back to what I was saying before I was trying quite intentionally to go back to some of the the roots of our influences on this album. So I don’t think it sounds anything like our first album, but is what made us, and what elements were there. Those classic, iconic artists, I think what you’re hearing, I think is just in the process because a lot of modern music, like I said, is quite perfect. I really do love a lot of modern music, I love a lot of electronic music, but there’s something about records that are imperfect. People are making mistakes, there’s atmosphere that you pick up with the microphones, I think that’s why you hear that in the new album.
I think the Dylan thing is quite interesting, I definitely did some Dylan tactics in the production, where you read about how he made Highway 61 or Bringing It All Back Home, where the musicians didn’t really know the songs. It was very impulsive, and I tried to do that with the band. I wanted all of us to feel like it’s a rehearsal and a lot of the tracks, everyone is working out their parts while they’re doing it. And that’s a lot of that 60s spirit, it’s so free and freewheelin’ [laughs], excuse my pun.
As a result, the album feels like it was recorded in the moment which is nice.
Yeah, exactly, and there’s a bit of danger in that. I’m really happy to hear those influences are coming through.
Following that, how was the A Complete Unknown premiere you and your wife Ellie went to last month?
Yeah, that was amazing, it was a real honour to be there. I think it’s the only premier I’ve ever been to my life. I don’t really go for all that. So it was pretty exciting. There was so many cool people there, and really talented people, and I think it was an interesting cross-section of the music industry. I thought the film was one of the best biopics ever made, possibly the best. Being quite obsessed with Dylan and having read Tarantula, Chronicles, and watched Pennebaker’s Don’t Look Back and bag film and all that stuff, I thought they did an incredible job. I think they captured like the times, but it was really funny, and it was quite romantic. It’s interesting, Dylan has always been sort of unlucky in love.
There was a real emotive narrative that they managed to get in the film, which I thought was brilliant. Chalamet is the real deal. The music is really cool. I wasn’t surprised necessarily, because everyone said it was good, but I thought was outstanding. Seeing it in the cinema with them all there, that was super cool. My seal of approval, for sure [laughs].
For me, “Tough At The Top” is a standout, would you mind walking me through the writing process for that song?
Oh yeah, I love that one. It’s got so much energy. When you think about our early work, there was so much energy, everything was super fast. So I enjoy doing a song like that. I wanted something on the album that had some pace and got the heart rate going, you know. It’s kind of my reflection on my story, feeling like the underdog, the pressures that I felt I had, and I think a lot of people can relate to that. I think a lot of people can relate to the demands from every angle in your life. So it’s kind of a release song, really. It’s heavily influenced by The Police, of course. I mean, it’s pretty obvious, don’t sue me, Sting, please [laughs].
But it’s done with huge respect, one of the biggest influences on the band is The Police. There’s a bit of The Weekend in there, in the chorus. I was trying to do some vocals, which I thought would make it a bit more modern, and it has a little bit of influence from the Weekend, who I really like. It’s a proper headbanger, and I think the album needed that. It came quite late in the process of making the album; it was one of the last ones that I did. I thought it was missing a rock-and-roll thumper.
With Never Know, you’ve said there is an energy running through the album of living in the moment and grabbing hold of it. What memories from your life do you conjure up in your mind where you have been enthralled in something, really in the moment and not distracted by the outside world?
I think, in a way, that’s what having kids does. When my firstborn came along… I don’t want to get too deep, but my dad died when I was three. As it is approached my son being three. It’s always been on my mind, consciously or subconsciously, of how precious the time is. I think that was a real inspiration for the whole album for me. I worked so hard on this album because I was like ‘you’ve gotta do it while you can’, you know, that almost is a flow state vibe. Every time its really hard, especially touring and being in a band and having kids is like—I’m not getting a violin out—but your time is precious with your kids. Even the hard times when they’re being a nightmare and all that, you’ve got to enjoy it, because you’re going to miss that when they’re out the house as well. So that’s what springs to mind.
I’ve always been a fan of the band, Listen holds a special place in my heart—I was 18 at the time, and it really resonated with me. Plus, having Inflo produce it was incredible—what a legend. As a music fan yourself, is there a band you’ve already loved has released an album that made you appreciate them even more?
Like, release an album recently?
It could be a new or old record, whatever comes to mind.
Hmm, you know what, The Strokes when they did Angles, because it had been a minute, and it felt like they hadn’t changed their sound, but there was a kind of mature confidence to it, of their sound, and they’d really settled into. Yeah, they managed to reinvent while giving you all the nostalgia and the feel of what you remember when you were like 16, hearing them for the first time. So that album springs to mind. Yeah, that was cool.
There are few bands or artists that can have such an impact on the musical landscape with their debut record, The Kooks is forever in that special, small group, alongside The Killers, Arctic Monkeys, and more. 19 years on since the release of Inside In / Inside Out which undoubtedly changed your life forever, how has your relationship with that record changed, if at all?
When you look with perspective, I have absolute gratitude that we made it and that we could. I just think about the chemistry that the band had and thought that was because two of the members were not having a great time. I think it was a real flash moment of creating something that I didn’t have a clue would last that long. The fact that there’s this symbiosis between the audience and the artist, and the fact that the audience has given it importance, and the fact that the young people now really look to that record. At this point, hearing from younger artists who’ve been influenced by it more so, I’d say now more than even like 10 or 15 years ago, I hear it all the time. I think that’s just timing, a zeitgeist kind of thing.
Has it changed my relationship with the album? I guess it has, I’m more comfortable with it. For a long time again. It’s a bit of a cliche but it’s very true, especially in our journey as a band, It was a bit of an albatross around the neck. It was a bit of an anchor because it had so much… It wasn’t necessarily heralded as an incredible piece of work by the kind of powers that be, but it soundtracked so many people’s lives and everything. It was sort of mainstream, and then we were always like, ‘Oh, how do you get back up to that?’ And actually, as you grow up a bit, you realise that’s completely the wrong way of looking at it. It was challenging because everyone would bring it up all the time. So you would be in this state of feeling a bit funny about it, and now it’s been enough time that I just feel like it set the atmosphere and the tone for the band really well.
Now I feel more comfortable on the new album. Like I said, it’s more comfortable going back to some of the original inspirations for our band. With Listen and Inflow, it was the first one where I was like, I want to really recalibrate, change and evolve. That was a great thing to do, and I really appreciate you that record, by the way, it’s so cool. I loved making that album. But it was like we were running away for quite a long time, and so realising that you don’t have to try and make music sound like something to get the same feeling is what has changed.
Some artists may feel pressure to repeat what has done well in the past but artists and bands have to evolve, and that’s perfectly fine. This new album, I probably like it more than Listen now. I like all the LPs, you know what I mean, but Never/Know may be my favourite now.
Wow, that’s cool man. I’m thrilled to hear that.
As a father of two small children, once they are old enough to learn about what you do for a living, if they could only hear one Kooks song, which one would you like them to hear the most – is there one you would be most proud for them to hear first?
Oh man, I feel like they’re probably going to hate my music, aren’t they? That’s the thing or be embarrassed, dad’s singing again. I’ve got to say “Sunny Baby” off the new album because it’s so cool. At that moment, making that song, my son, Julian, already sings along to it and everything. So I think that one is about us, and I would point them in that direction.
Finally, there are a lot of festival appearances coming up, but what about a UK headline tour for the fans?
Yeah, we’re working on some plans toward the end of this year, nothing is finalised yet. But we’re planning on doing quite an extensive UK tour, and it’s been a while. So, hopefully, we’ll get some other great artists to come on the tour with us, we’re already really thinking about that.
We’ve got quite a busy summer already booked, so yeah, look out for it. I don’t think it will be that long until we can share our touring plans. What’s great is that we are lucky to be quite a global band, so it is always tricky fitting it all in. We’re going to the US quite soon, and then we kind of need to get around the globe in the next 18 months.
But the UK is our spot, the feeling is that people are responding really well to us having new music out for the first time in ages, and we want to see the fans and new fans as well.
I know you’ve done a lot of interviews over the years, and I can only imagine a lot must be tedious and boring, so I just want to emphasise I appreciate you sitting down for this chat, Luke.
I really appreciate that, that’s really of nice you to say. It has been a pleasure, and a great chat, it could have been a podcast! [laughs]
The Kooks’ seventh record Never/Know releases on May 9 via Virgin Music Group.
Follow The Kooks @thekooksmusic.
Interview Cameron Poole
