Listen to the Kooks Try on Some R&B in Their New Song
The Kooks are pretty much known as an indie-rock band. But on their latest single, ‘Down,’ the U.K. quartet changes up things with some R&B.
Frontman Luke Pritchard channels his inner James Brown by singing a capella at the top of the track, which then leads into the rhythm-based hook. “Down down diggy,” they repeat throughout the song.
The raw, scrappy ‘Down’ sounds like the band went into the studio, jammed out the song and pressed the record immediately afterward. But in reality, the band has been splitting studio time between London and Los Angeles. “With this record, we didn’t do any rehearsing beforehand,” Pritchard says in a press release. “I’d write a song … put it up and we’d all play over it. There was a real freedom to the process.”
This is the first sign of new material from the Kooks since 2011’s ‘Junk of the Heart’ album. Even though ‘Down’ won’t be available for purchase until April 20, you can listen to it below. Meanwhile, the group is at SXSW this week, testing out some new songs.
There’s no word yet on when the band’s fourth album will be released, but with ‘Down’ making the rounds, we can’t be too far off from it.
Listen to the Kooks’ ‘Down’
