Photo: Ray Hill
The Kooks' comeback continues with the returning indie stars dropping their latest single, 'Forgive And Forget'. Check it out below.
Early Kooks fans will be forgiven the double-take, not just at the new-look of a band that features two new members but at the new found funk-inspired sound. Luke Pritchard's days of chiming an acoustic guitar in a straw hat are long behind him, today his sound is altogether more developed.
'Forgive and Forget' is upbeat, happy and effortless in its attempts to bring a smile to your face, and that's about it. Like Pharrell William's 'Happy' the song, which coincides perfectly with the current, albeit dwindling, feel-good summer sunshine, does exactly what it says on the tin.
Elements of the old Kooks remain, like Pritchard's hard-to-place regional accent, but the track is itself a bold move in shedding the skin of the previous successes. A better move for the band would surely have been to rename the group. That way older fans wouldn't be listening out for murmurs of Inside In/Inside Out and a wider range of open-minded new fans could have been captured.
Listen to Forgive and Forget below:
Below: 18 exclusive photos of The Kooks at London's Electric Ballroom
