“The Roots of The Kooks: How Luke Pritchard and Hugh Harris Transport Their Audience Back in Time”

If you were to take Morrissey’s crooning vocals infused with the rhythm of The Cure and The La’s’ piercing optimism, you’d be left with the nostalgic sound of The Kooks.

The British indie-rock band first charged into the music scene in 2006 when their debut album Inside In / Inside Out reached No. 2 on the UK charts. Through several proceeding records and over 1,400 live shows worldwide, the group’s members evolved - but in 2025, frontman Luke Pritchard and guitarist Hugh Harris remain the foundation of The Kooks. 

Never/Know not only marked the band’s seventh studio album, but also a triumphant return to their roots. During the last 20 years, their music has evolved from acoustic melodies to quirky lyricism and even dipped into the more electronic side of Brit-Pop. The recent May 9th album Never/Know takes listeners back to the band's early days, and pledges itself to their authenticity and hope. 

Montreal’s MTELUS was the gifted the pleasure of being the first stop on the North American leg of the All Over The World Tour that embarked on May 27th. Prior to the show, I had the pleasure of sitting down with The Kooks’ lead vocalist. 

Pritchard, whose work on the band’s most recent record expanded to new lengths, spoke about their evolution through sound and the authenticity they’ve found in the creative process: “So you know, I produced it myself and that was a new challenge.” It was clear such a challenge truly fueled the chemistry that erupted within the group, both on the record and on stage. Prichard went on to say, “I just wanted to capture us as a band as much as I could, and leave in the kind of a bit of danger in terms of like, you know, it's not perfect, and it's not done highly meticulously on computers, you know, it's a recorded record…it was just about stripping everything back again.” 

Going back to the basics with Never/Know left the group with more room to explore what had been waiting for them all those years ago. Their eccentric creativity, coupled with what Pritchard described as a “lightning bolt” new concept, left the band off to the races with creating this brand new, old, record. 

Their return to the stage stood as a testament to The Kooks’ artistic discoveries, as they lit up the Montreal venue with powerful charisma and truthful presence. 

To launch the night towards its trajectory, an eager audience was greeted by the lovely duo, lovelytheband. Lead vocalist Mitchy Collins and guitar and keyboardist Jordan Greenwald, 

kicked off with a handful of softened, stripped-down tunes, including their rendition of The Killers’ “Mr. Brightside”. While Collins confessed that their acoustic set was the unfortunate result of their tour bus getting stopped at the border, the reward for their crises was an earnest, intimate moment shared with the audience. As they played their radio hit, “Broken”, Collins’ vocals echoed seamlessly against listeners’ unplanned singsong of the track's catchy hook, “I like that you’re broken, broken like me, maybe that makes me a fool.” 

Soon after their departure, the stage re-lit with the roaring presence of Pritchard and Harris, alongside touring musicians Jonathan Harvey and Alexis Nuñez. Pritchard’s electric energy as he jumped up to the front of the stage shot the night into greatness as the audience erupted with matched excitement. 

Such cheers and hollers soon became a harmony of sung-back choruses. “Ooh La” set the venue in a warm summer air while “Sunny Baby” rolled the windows down on the convertible that coasted through the blistering heat. The positivity Pritchard had spoken of during our conversation oozed from the group's performance, even amidst the more intimate tracks.   

A keyboard was dragged on stage for Pritchard, who moved into “See Me Now” from their 2014 album, Listen. The piano ballad pulled at the heartstrings as childhood footage of the singer and his late father played in the background. Even through lyrics as vulnerable as, “If you could see me now, if you could see my smile, see your little boy, would you be proud?”, Prichard's hope stood strong. 

As a man whose dad passed away when he was just 3 years old, his recent fatherhood seems to have deeply influenced the nuances of his artistry: “I had this kind of, you know, epiphany of how much time I actually had with my dad. And that was quite joyous. It was emotional, but quite joyous.” In his performance, his hardship was evident, but the sense of promise Pritchard pulls out from deep within is what truly gives this show strength. 

As he cheerily boogied his way through “Westside”, Pritchard reached down to pluck a rose from an audience member, which he slid under the strings of his guitar. The singer’s notion of the album, “refining the identity of what we are”, was captured in the nostalgic rhythms and acoustic strums that brought the audience back to the band's earlier work. 

Time seemed to fly by with angsty alt-rock tracks like “Sweet Emotion” and "Compass Will Fracture,” and the audience ate up every last bite of this trip back down memory lane. 

With “Junk of the Heart”, The Kooks’ set came to a close, but the audience was not ready to let go just yet. Their vibrating stomps and guttural rendition of the football chant “Olé, Olé", lured the band back for an encore, where the much-awaited hit, “Naive”, was sung. 

By all accounts, the sound that emerged into success 20 years ago has stood the test of time. The chemistry that exudes from the music of the Kooks exemplifies the strength of the relationship between Luke Pritchard and Hugh Harris. 

A heartfelt thank you goes out to Pritchard and his team for taking the time to dive deeper into his artistry and The Kook’s timeless career. 

Make sure to follow along with the bands' upcoming tour dates, surely their time capsule journey is only just beginning.