After 18 years as a band, The Kooks decided the only way to move forward was to stop painting over the cracks and finally do a full “renovation” of the band. As they stripped things back, analysing their history of line-up changes, ego battles and sound shifts in the process, they were left with the foundations and the core of the band, described by Hugh Harris as “a shared vision to bring joy and love in music through well played, well-written pop. It’s that simple, almost childlike.”
After a reflective analysis of who The Kooks are and what they want to make, the solution was to return to the spirit of the debut album, not in sound, but in energy and atmosphere. During the creation of their seventh album, Never Know, Pritchard told no one what they were doing, tricking the musicians into believing they were just making demos and capturing the band in a state described by Harris as “complete and utter ease” where there was space for experimentation, fun, and a degree of messiness. “I think we've been hiding from that a little bit and making it a bit too easy,” Pritchard said of their past records but here, carried by the studio’s spontaneous air and a renovated and reengaged dedication to their shared vision, The Kooks got back to their best by going back to basics. In Pritchard’s own words, “I really feel like we've got our swagger back by letting things be and not making everything too perfect.”
