The Kooks - Let's Go Sunshine
The intro to The Kooks' latest full-length kicks off with the band chanting “we’re just having a good time honey”, setting the vibe, tone, and pace for this very welcome return from Brighton’s finest sons.
Hot on the heels of their recent tour they have released Lets Go Sunshine, their fourth studio album three years in the making. At fifteen tracks long, it's a record that their hardcore fanbase will be absolutely delighted with. Now almost thirteen years since they released their debut Inside In/Inside Out (now five times platinum certified) still they sound as fresh as the day they first hit the airwaves some billion streams later.
Kids is a great opening track, right up there in the same vein as many of the classics. Both Swing Low and Kids are sure to become big fan favourites at gigs with their singalong choruses, as is Tesco Disco.
Lead singer Luke Pritchard describes Let’s Go Sunshine as their Rubber Soul / Definitely Maybe career-defining album moment, their most exciting album to date, that has produced some of his best songs that he has ever written (he spent hours stewing over every single word during the writing process). It's a bold statement to make, but it comes with Pritchard on the front foot and from a man leading a band that has outlasted many of their indie competitors from the past decade or so. Fair play to him.
The Kooks are still out and very clearly still enjoying themselves; Let's Go Sunshine is one that will certainly get you up on the dance floor. It’s bright, it’s energetic, and very uplifting, and oozes confidence with a certain bold swagger. It’s great to have them back. It is very difficult indeed to find fault with this very sumptuous return.
The album closes with No Pressure where they once again chant during the chorus to remind us just in case we have forgotten, “We’re just having such a good time honey”, and it really does sound like they are doing just that.
As the summer sunshine fades out and the dark, wet, cold autumn skies fill the days, this will certainly warm your heart. I am sure that they will be back in 2019 with some more dates and I for one can’t wait.
