Review

By Liam Hughes | 08/04/2026

*The Brighton lads deliver a deliciously nostalgic yet forward-looking tenth studio album that proves they're far from done.* There's something rather comforting about The Kooks still being around, isn't there? Two decades after "Inside In/Inside Out" soundtracked countless sticky-floored student unions and summer festivals, Luke Pritchard and company have returned with "Never/Know", an album that manages the rare trick of both nodding to their jangly guitar-pop roots while stretching confidently into new territory. The album opens with the infectious "Fractured Light", where Pritchard's distinctive vocals—equal parts raspy and melodic—dance over a punchy rhythm section that could have been lifted straight from their 2006 heyday. Yet there's a maturity to the production that reveals a band no longer trying to recapture their youth but rather celebrate their journey. On "Midnight Talks", the standout track, The Kooks deliver what might be their finest chorus since "Naïve". It's all swirling guitars and head-nodding beats, with lyrics that explore the small-hours conversations that change relationships forever. It's precisely the sort of earworm that made us fall for them in the first place—though now served with a dash of grown-up introspection. The middle section ventures into more experimental waters. "Serenade for the Broken" employs strings and electronic elements that would have been unthinkable from the indie scamps of yore. It's a risk that largely pays off, even if some hardcore fans might grumble about the departure from their signature sound. By the time "Coastline Memory" rolls around near the album's close, with its gentle acoustic strumming and wistful nostalgia, it's clear this is a band comfortable in their skin. There's no desperate grab for chart relevance, no ill-advised collaboration with whatever producer is setting the TikTok charts alight. "Never/Know" isn't perfect—a couple of tracks in the back half meander without direction, and "Ultraviolet Dream" feels like a B-side that somehow made the cut. But these are minor quibbles in what is otherwise a remarkably solid effort from a band many had written off years ago. In a landscape where their contemporaries from the mid-2000s indie boom have either disappeared or become pale imitations of their former selves, The Kooks have produced something that feels authentic and earned. "Never/Know" suggests that perhaps we never really knew what this band was capable of all along.