In 2006, English indie rock band The Kooks released their debut album, ‘Inside In/Inside Out,’ becoming an instant hit after selling over 2 million copies. Nearly two decades later, the band’s longtime fans have been joined by a brand new generation thanks to a renaissance through social media exposure.
Ahead of their upcoming album release and US tour — which features a stop in Philly at the legendary Fillmore in May — Luke Pritchard, the frontman of The Kooks, sat down with Metro to discuss the band re-igniting their origins and honoring their fans.
The album is coming out in early May, but ‘Sunny Baby’ has already dropped. What stood out about that track to make it the single?
I just love that tune. I love the simplicity and the message. It just seemed like it kind of summed up what this band is. It’s positive, optimistic, romantic, and it felt like the common denominator on the record. You know, still got some amazing guitar work from Hugh; it’s got a bit of Beach Boys California in there, which I think is kind of very needed these days — to remember the good things because it’s been a heavy few years for everyone. So it just felt right. We’re coming into the summer, so it’s like, it’s brilliant, and hopefully the sound tracks in people’s good memories and, you know, [they] put it on in the car, loud.
It’s been 18 years since the band’s debut album. How has the band maintained its core being over the years?
It’s such a kind of tightrope to walk because, as you start out, like with us, our story, we commercially blew up on our first record, so we kind of just landed into all of a sudden having songs on the radio. It wasn’t really a longer journey towards people noticing us, so kind of in these two worlds where you want to evolve and change, and then also not forget the reason why people noticed you in the first place.
I guess we did evolve. I think we didn’t get too fearful of change, and we, especially from our fourth album list, really changed our sound with some gospel, bluesy, and a little bit country, which was really cool to change it up. And then, from there, we collaborated more. And I think, we were embracing the modern scene, which is very much artist and producer working together, and that was really cool.
This album was about re-igniting the origins of the band, and I felt like this was a good time for us to take a step back and make a record for our fans, really the people who loved our band from the beginning. So this one’s a bit of a revamp. I listened to a lot of the records that we listened to when we started the band, and tried to not repeat ourselves, but give a bit of respect to that, and that’s where we landed.
So, to answer to your question, it’s quite difficult, and I think some bands choose to keep their core sound the whole way through and just change songs, but we’ve gone quite a journey, and this album is really about being a nod to the first few records, but in a kind of fresh way.
It’s a pretty noble goal to make a record specifically for your fans. Can you dive a bit more into the importance that your fans have had for the entire group over the years?
You have to do what you love, right? You have to do, ultimately, what’s going to connect to something that you love. But I think our fans really kept us going. We’ve had rough times, and people kept coming to our shows.
And I think we saw that again with this, the young fan base coming in. You know, people’s little sisters and maybe their kids now, it’s crazy, and they really love our band, and think that it’s important to me to respect that and give credit to that, and do what this album’s trying to do, with the most authentic kind of version of this band in 2025 and that, I think, is what the fans will hear.
We’re a fan’s band. We have a lot of support from really cool people and press and radio, but really, the fans are the core thing for us. It always has been that way. It’s organic. So I think with us, it’s very important we have a very close relationship with the fans.
I had a very sort of an epiphany just before making this album, where I was on stage and the songs I was singing really connected to the whole that was in this festival. All these songs, these simple ones I wrote in my bedroom — I was a teenager, practically — and I was like, I need to connect. It’s not about all the other stuff that comes after that, but it’s about connecting. And I love that. That’s what gets me up on stage — to feel that connection with people.
You’ve played the Fillmore before, last year, in fact. Is there anything about this venue that stands out to you?
Pretty cool backstage, very good atmosphere, and it’s very real, I like that. There’s very few venues left in the UK — I think you have more in the States — that have this kind of pedigree history to them. It’s got a rock and roll-ness to it, and it’s quite lively sounding. And it’s just a great place to be. All the people, the staff as well, the people are so cool to work with. Everyone’s excited for the show. So it’s just a good energy. We’re really excited to come back. We feel very grateful.
The Kooks will headline at The Fillmore on Friday, May 30. For more information on The Kooks, their upcoming album release, and tour dates, visit thekooks.com.
