STACK #166 Aug 2018

MUSIC NEWS

visit stack.com.au

‘cause that’s really where stuff comes from – I don’t really believe in, ‘Oh, you go to another country and you get inspired’ or whatever. I think it’s guitars, you know, for me. It’s guitars I have a real affinity with – about three or four of the guitars I have, I just always feel good when I pick them up. I feel ready to do something fabulously great, so they hold quite a lot of weight for me even though they’re just wooden objects with strings. They have character. I’ve got a guitar that I’ve written 20 songs on, that are out there, and that feels good. Then I kind of threw that away on the fourth album – I just said, right, I’m going to work with this 22-year-old producer. I’ll use, a $150 electric guitar, and it’s all new and it’s all on the computer. But [ Let’s Go Sunshine ] is back to my roots. Intro is a bunch of people singing the chorus to No Pressure – it’s quite the bookend, considering No Pressure , the full track, is the last in the tracklist and that it also ends with this singalong. Where did you record it? It was the last day of recording in the studio, and it was sung in a place full of art in LA. Basically, we had all of our friends and a few family members and stuff. I’d written No Pressure probably a week before we finished the album. It wasn’t meant to be on the album, but we did it on the last night. The recording ended up being the second take. All our mates were there, so we were basically just having a drink and singing along. It was just a cool feeling. I think it sets up the album, for what it’s about. Not to be corny, but it’s meant to make you feel good – and it does have its up and downs, but that’s where the beauty is. Of course, [ Intro ] kicks right into Kids – which is the most angsty song on the record – but it sets you up going, right, this is a record to put on and feel good. That’s all we’re trying to do; that was our intent, I think.

It’s guitars I have a real affinity with... though they’re just wooden objects with strings. They have character

The Kooks (L to R): Peter Denton, Alexis Nuñez, Hugh Harris and Luke Pritchard

INTERVIEW

THE KOOKS Groove-rich, texture-waxed and loaded with bright melodic moments, Let's Go Sunshine sees The Kooks sitting pretty on their indie-rock throne. Frontman Luke Pritchard spoke to STACK about how the English group's fifth studio album came into being.

It’s been 12 years since She Moves In Her Own Way . When you listen to that song, is there anything about it which you think the band has made a deliberate effort to retain? We’ve played that song so many times now. It’s so engrained in my brain – to me it’s like DNA. That song, you know the drum beat with that guitar style, that was just our sound. I think that even though we’re not taking steps back, you know, I think that DNA’s still there. It’s just my songwriting, probably.

You wrote much of the new album in a room with an elephant wallhanging (whose trunk is up, which is good luck). Do you find you write your best stuff when you’re around a particular charm or in a particular environment? Yeah. Well, I’m actually in that room right now. I’ve got a cool blanket that someone gave me. I’ve got a few little bits of pieces. I’ve got that wall hanging from India, and I kind of like having it around. But, you know, the main thing for me to be honest – aside from [ideas] coming from within yourself,

Is there a kettle whistling at the start of Four Leaf Clover ? We actually recorded that [in] the studio, and it took hours of precision engineering to get that exact sound. Yes, it’s an oldschool kettle. ZKR

Let's Go Sunshine by The Kooks is out August 31 via Lonely Cat/AWAL Recordings.

060

AUGUST 2018

jbhifi.com.au