British Indie Rock icons The Kooks return today with their sixth album 10 Tracks To Echo in The Dark via Lonely Cat/AWAL. The album release schedule took a diverging approach, the band having released two 3-track EP’s (parts 1 and 2,) and the 10 Tracks To Echo in The Dark LP completing the series with four new musical offerings.
Adventuring into new territories sonically with a fizzy, electronic sound, the album was born out of lead vocalist Luke Pritchard‘s new mantra – to not overthink things and just craft a record that he’d want to listen to at home. This thought process resulted in a creativity that emerges organically on the album, as ideas came freely and easily.
This new direction acting as a thesis for the album is an overall product of a new Pritchard – now married and becoming a father for the first time, his demons are behind him and he is optimistic about the future.
“I really hope that sense of inner peace comes across,” says Pritchard on the album’s resoundingly optimistic outlook. “I really want to have fun with my life at this point. But also – it’s kinda a reflection of what I was feeling in real-time in a pre-and-post COVID world. I was reading a lot of sci-fi – like Philip K. Dick, Azimov and surreal stuff like Boris Vian – which is obviously really distracting from what’s going on in the world, but helped me be imaginative with the songs.”
The epic ‘Cold Heart‘ just short of five minutes in length is brimming with funky charm and feel-good energy, before the track spirals into a place that feels distant and foggy as a saccharine strumming signifies a new chapter on the song, introducing a steady drumbeat and the innocent honesty of a children’s choir. ‘Cold Heart‘ is the twinkling of sea glass washed up on a sunset beach, smooth and polished yet sharp in its sincere delivery.
‘Closer‘ continues to bloom with a breezy and sunny sound, encapsulating the high of love. ‘Beautiful World‘ featuring Milky Chance takes the optimistic outlook that the record has to offer to new heights, capturing the bliss and beauty that can be found in the world while acknowledging its faults simultaneously: “It’s such a fucked up world / But I’m glad we’re living in it / It’s such a beautiful world / I’m glad we’re living in it.”
Moments of especially personal songwriting can be found on ‘Oasis‘ and ‘Without A Doubt,’ with these tracks surrounding Luke Pritchard‘s insecurities as both a singer and lover.
10 Tracks To Echo in The Dark is the shot of positivity and light that we all need to guide our minds away from life’s never-ending barrage of uncertainties. Craving a solace of serotonin? The Kooks have just the record that is sure to cure your troubles.
10 Tracks To Echo in The Dark is out now on all major platforms and is available to stream here.
Catch The Kooks on Tour – full list of dates available to purchase here.