The Kooks have announced their sixth studio album.
Luke Pritchard and co planned to take a break in 2018, following extensive touring across the globe in support of their LP 'Let's Go Sunshine'.
However, Luke couldn't switch off from music - not only did he and his wife Ellie Rose launch their duets project Duo, and release a self-titled EP in 2020, but he also got to work on new music for the 'She Moves in Her Own Way' hitmakers.
Now, the indie-pop group are back with the first taste of their upcoming three-part collection, ‘10 TRACKS TO ECHO IN THE DARK’, with the singles 'Connection', Jesse James' and 'Modern Days' now available on streaming platforms as the EP, ‘CONNECTION - ECHO IN THE DARK PART 1’.
Luke, 36, explained how felt compelled to make an album that represents The Kooks as a "European band" after being "really affected by Brexit".
He said: “I started going to Berlin for three or four days at a time. I was really affected by Brexit and I wanted to make a bit of a statement by creating a European record.
“We’re a European band, we practically lived out there and have so much love for Europe, so we wanted to keep that connection.”
Luke noted that he rained in his drug-taking during his time in Berlin.
He said: “I wasn’t doing any drugs.
"It was more dive bars and a bottle of whiskey than Berghain.”
On how the German city - frequented by David Bowie and U2 - inspired him, he continued: “A lot of songwriters have found refuge in Berlin.
“It’s a free place, it’s not so consumed by commerciality. I was looking for something a bit rawer, a little bit more minimal. Sometimes you just pick up these nuances somewhere. It’s not necessarily the people, it’s the place.”
Luke co-wrote and produced much of the record with Tobias Kuhn there, but in March 2020, COVID-19 travel restrictions meant the pair had to work via Zoom, until Tobias could fly to London and join The Kooks - also comprising Hugh Harris and Alexis Nunez - to put the finishing touches to the LP.
Getting married and becoming a dad for the first time also gave Luke an "inner peace", which is reflected throughout the uptempo electronic-tinged collection.
Luke added: “I really hope that sense of inner peace comes across.
“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.
“In the pandemic I had a good amount of time to look over our albums and feel proper proud and lucky. This album is a real thank you to our fans for sticking by us for so long, we hope you love it."
'10 TRACKS TO ECHO IN THE DARK' is released in full on July 22.
