Indie icons The Kooks are back and have released a new EP called Unshelved: Pt I; this collection of tracks consist of a few songs that did not make it onto any of their most recent albums, but were too good not to share. It includes five new songs, called ‘Oil,’ ‘Something To Say,’ ‘Agnostic,’ ‘Bad Taste In My Mouth,’ and ‘Femme Fatale.’ The choice of songs truly encompasses the timeless and traditional sound of The Kooks that we all know and love. The cover itself nods to a more retro and classic feel with its vinyl record shape and classic red, blue and white colour combination. The tracks give listeners a sense of nostalgia that takes you back to their earlier music, without feeling dated or repeated. 

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The tracks give listeners a sense of nostalgia that takes you back to their earlier music, without feeling dated

The collection consists of a variation of their traditional indie rock sound, featuring many funky, guitar-heavy tracks. The rhythmic rock sound suits the band perfectly, staying true to their original tracks. The set of songs each have a good flow and work well together fittingly; ‘Bad Taste In My Mouth’ is delightful, the cheerful sound of the acoustic guitar somehow pairs perfectly with the bitterly mature lyrics that appear to be ahead of their time. ‘Femme Fatale’ and ‘Something To Say’ presents the listener with an upbeat tune accompanied by vocalist Luke Pritchard’s unique sound serves the flawless essence to any of The Kooks’ songs. Although the album has that distinctive sound of The Kooks, the freshness of the cool instrumental in ‘Agnostic’ separates this EP from the rest of their music. The songs have the late 2000s in mind, taking you back to their earlier music such as ‘Junk Of The Heart (Happy)’ and ‘Eddie’s Gun.’

These songs seek to transport listeners to a calmer place, navigating us away from the more turbulent times that we currently live in. The songs feel like they should already be iconic tunes we know and love, even though we are only just hearing them for the first time. This further highlights the influence of The Kooks’ sound; each track feels elevated and that it belongs in a concert, played live to masses of crowds jumping at the sound of the opening chords. We can only hope that The Kooks will release more of their unreleased tunes, as fans patiently await the arrival of an Unshelved: Pt. II.

Unshelved: Pt. I is available now via Virgin Records Ltd

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