Huge Noughties Indie group announce massive new album 19 years after breakout record

KOOKS frontman Luke Pritchard knows however to constitute a banger, with You Don’t Love Me, Ooh La and Naive from their 2006 debut medium becoming immoderate of the biggest songs of the Noughties.

Today, the indie group are backmost with caller azygous Never Know, from their seventh medium Never/Know, retired connected May 9.

The 11-track grounds is simply a instrumentality to form, with the poetic romanticism of Sunny Babe and the rockier Compass Will Fracture and Tough At The Top truthful bully I enactment them connected repeat.

A screen of Wings’s Arrow Through Me is besides masterful.

“It’s the champion grounds we’ve done for ages,” Luke tells maine arsenic we conscionable astatine The Groucho Club successful cardinal London.

“I knew precisely what I wanted to do. Tough At The Top has a dense Polics power — they’re 1 of my favourite bands.

“Chinatown’s a spot similar a aboriginal Sting. Compass Will Fracture is store stone — I wanted to recapture the infinitesimal I archetypal heard The White Stripes.”

He adds: “With us, it’s similar however cheesy things travel cool. It’s similar erstwhile Rihanna's Anti medium came out, it was truthful influential and had that large cheesy Santana illustration connected it. It became chill again.

“We had a infinitesimal of radical reasoning we’re benignant of cheesy but past the manner comes backmost astir again.”

Last nighttime Luke and his bandmates Hugh Harris and Alexis Nunez enactment connected an indie nine nighttime astatine Notting Hill Arts Club to observe Never/Know.

They volition beryllium announcing their upcoming circuit successful the UK and US aboriginal this year, and Luke adds: “Not to toot our ain trumpet but we sold retired our past US circuit and we hadn’t played America for 4 years.

“Social media has made america planetary now. Naive was the 66th astir played opus connected Spotify past month. They’ve upped the size of the shows for the adjacent US tour. It’s crazy.”

Album tracks Echo Chamber and Let You Go are indie heartbreak classics and I archer Luke I tin ideate Gen Z teens making them anthems for their break-ups.

“I’ve ever been much affectional and that was what acceptable america apart,” Luke explains arsenic helium opens up astir coming up alongside bands specified arsenic Kasabian and Arctic Monkeys successful the Noughties.

Looking crossed astatine him it’s wide Luke has recovered his blessed spot with his woman Ellie and their gorgeous sons Julian and Wesley.

His Instagram features Reels of them dancing, and a laughing Luke adds: “Julian loves pistillate powerfulness popular — his favourite opus is Coconuts by Kim Petras.

“Wesley loves Bhangra. I play guitar to them a lot, they emotion Sunny Baby. Julian sings on and if helium hears it he’ll say, ‘Daddy’s song’.”

Touring this clip astir is going to beryllium a acold antithetic matter for Luke, who has antecedently deed the roadworthy with Noel and Liam Gallagher and Sir Mick Jagger.

“Charlie Watts [the precocious Rolling Stones drummer] told maine a communicative astir this combat erstwhile I was connected circuit with them,” Luke says.

“One of the girlfriends was getting into it and Charlie was astir to person a fight, turned astir and each the different Stones had tally off.

“And Mick burst into our dressing country erstwhile we were naked.”

Of Liam, Luke adds: “I archetypal played with him astatine 5 shows successful Australia and helium was successful the champion form.

“I hadn’t seen him for 10 years and I was like, ‘He’s a stone star’. He had this swagger.”

With the afloat Glastonbury line-up yet to beryllium announced, I wonderment if The Kooks volition beryllium adding a slot to their drawstring of shows this year.

Coyly, Luke replies: “We’re ever talking astir it. It’s ever shrouded successful mystery. You ne'er know, there’s ever a possibility.”

That would beryllium my summertime made.