Instead of running from the tides of time Luke Pritchard has mastered the seven seas with new Kooks release, 10 Tracks to Echo in the Dark.

Lead singer Luke has said this release hosts a “major rebirth for the band. It is full of new music for the next generation”, it’s an album that lives for the future whilst acknowledging the past. This set of bangers and ballads have been done differently, especially “Sailing On A Dream”which is the first song to be written as a collaborative effort between all band members. Luke, guitarist Hugh Harris and drummer Alexis Nunez have created a psychedelic rhythm which transports a listener to an active state of sedation in which we explore our inner psyche whilst remaining aware of who we are and what we are dealing with. The light-hearted lyrics help lift us from these states, making us more aware of our realities making our realities more , the absurdity of the everyday becomes more apparent as we are faced with scenarios in which our loved ones weep into bright fruits and obsess over pointed shoes.

With the birth of Pritchard’s son, Julian, he has become more aware of his own reality and the situation the next generation may be left with.The singer has previously mentioned he would trust AI with governing humanity over any politician.His song ‘Cold Heart’ features a children’s choir from the Pauline Quirke Academy as well as including the next generation this song exposes our inner child, the naivety and hope we once had toward one another now suffocated, left struggling for air deep within , this song pays homage to the pilgrimage of compassion. The song and the inclusion of the choir demonstrates that music is for all of us but ultimately that the Kooks may be moving on; Pritchard has said “Hopefully, by the time Julian is 18 we’ll have got out of his way”, leaving space for the next mile of musicians.

The song further reflects the impact of the previous three years on a person.From the optimism of the end of 2019 going into a hopeful new year to the utter shock of diving into warm bath at the end of a hard working week only to be scalded, you leave it to cool for a while to come back dip an arm in to find your skin littered with goosebumps, the doom and exhaustion that defined 2020, only to move into the slow lull of 2021 and eventually the current crisis in 2022, the war, the fuel, the cost of being alive.

Of course we always had hope, we had each other in a time defined by division, restrictive laws and unjustified exiles to inhumane places, we overcame by uniting, finding the shrill shrieks of the many and challenging them with whispers, people will always rise for their rights. We can shift statues, we change stubborn laws just as the Kooks can embrace change after two decades of a distinctive sound.

The song Oasis pays homage to the escapism that love offered some of us through these times. Whether its our first one, married love, new love, this song speaks to us who still feel disbelief when we glimpse at our partner. Still dazzled by simple things like the length of their eyelashes, the way their tongue trips over certain letters and how they sound in the shower. It is the way this person makes us feel that makes us love them so, this stranger’s soul saved us from ourselves, allowed us to remedy our insecurities and achieve our desired realities. This individual becomes a superhero just by being who they are.

Think success will make you any less insecure, an accolade is not always a guaranteed reassure, this is discussed in Without A Doubt in which Luke exposes his imposter syndrome. This drive to be someone else, looking for the way of strangers to escape ourselves.Perhaps it is success we strive for, this unachievable ever moving margin of improvement, a gold sticker to a gold necklace, all trinkets and trophies, a trifle we’ll take a slither from before seeing it as too small, too sour, just not enough. There will always be something more we can do to gain success to guarantee you’ll impress, but it is love that assures us we have done enough, that we are worthy of warmth from another. That is what this song is about, you may feel uncomfortable with yourself but you will find someone who is comfortable with you and that will be enough to get you through.

You can catch them on tour and experience this new generation sound for yourselves here.