Let's Go Sunshine

Let's Go Sunshine is the fifth studio album by British rock band The Kooks. The follow-up to the 2014 album Listen, it was released on 31 August 2018 through Lonely Cat, making it the band's first album release on an independent label [4][6] The album charted at number 9 on the UK Albums Chart, giving the band their highest charted release for a decade after their second album Konk which reached Number One in 2008.[7] It is the third and last studio album recorded with bassist Pete Denton, whose departure from the band was announced on 3 January 2019.[8]

Let's Go Sunshine
Studio album by The Kooks
Released	31 August 2018 [1]
Recorded	2015-2018 [2]
Genre	Alternative rock, indie rock[3]
Length	53:06 [4]
Label	Lonely Cat
Producer	Brandon Friesen, Chris Seefried & Luke Pritchard [3]
The Kooks chronology
The Best of... So Far (2017) Let's Go Sunshine (2018)
Singles from Let's Go Sunshine
"All the Time" Released: 16 May 2018 [5] "No Pressure" Released: 16 May 2018 [5] "Fractured and Dazed" Released: 14 June 2018 [3] "Four Leaf Clover" Released: 19 July 2018 [4] "Chicken Bone" Released: 15 August 2018

The album contains the five released singles "All the Time", "No Pressure", "Fractured and Dazed", "Four Leaf Clover" and the most recent single "Chicken Bone".[4]

Recording

Luke Pritchard had already begun talking about The Kooks' fifth album in 2017 while promoting the band's greatest hits compilation, The Best of... So Far, which contained two new songs that were produced by Brandon Friesen who was also overseeing the recording of their new album along with Chris Seefried. Consisting of songs written by Pritchard while the other band members spent time with their families, the new album was deemed to be more of a band effort, as opposed to Listen which was constructed individually.[9]

Initially, the band had started recording for their fifth album in 2015 with the intent of continuing the flow from the previous record Listen. Unhappy with the results they decided to scrap the material in favor of starting over in a new direction. According to Pritchard, "We’d started out with Inflo, working in the same way we had on Listen, and one day we all looked at each other and said 'This isn’t working'."[10]

Pritchard spoke to the Evening Standard about his writing process for the new album: “I really went on a mission to write the best songs I’d ever written before bringing them to the band. I stewed over every word. It had to be our Rubber Soul, Lola, Definitely Maybe. Proper British lineage. I came from a dark place at the start, had a lotta heartbreak, and then falling in love in the middle of the album...the lyrics reflect that".[2]

Pritchard also spoke to Clash about external pressure on the band to produce more mainstream music and the band's resistance to the idea. He said, "On this album it wasn’t like there were discussions in the band on this, but there were a lot of people around us saying things like, oh, you should go more modern, or use this producer. We made a very clear decision to stick to our guns, and to stick to being what we think we stand for." The band decided to write more of the music and in particular the lyrics before entering the studio to record, as opposed to writing on the fly in the studio as with their previous record.[6]

Regarding the choice of Friesen as producer, with whom the band started working with in early 2016, Pritchard said, "He was looking to make a great rock record and that’s what we wanted. It was exciting to work with something new, we didn’t want the guy who’d done the last Kasabian record, we wanted to be outsiders together, that gave us a lot of fight and a lot of creative freedom."[10]

Originally, Pritchard had wanted to name the album Weight of the World after one of its songs. He said, "In my opinion 'Weight Of The World" became the pinnacle moment of the new record because this song represents what the entire album stands for: letting go of the past, letting go of the youth. But I found it was too negative for a title, whereas Let’s Go Sunshine feels really positive. And that’s what the album really is in the end."[11]

Critical reception

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	59/100 [12]
Review scores
Source	Rating
All Music
Clash
Exclaim!
NME
PopMatters
Q Magazine
The Skinny

Upon the release of "Let's Go Sunshine" critical reception to the album was mixed. Review aggregate website Metacritic scored the album 59/100 based on 7 reviews.[12] In All Music's review by Neil Z. Yeung said of the album; " a mostly tame affair packed with patient groovers and some lush production" although he was slightly critical of the albums sentimentality; "it gets bogged down by the contemplative exercises, but resuscitated by the festival-sized anthems punctuated throughout".[13] Clash gave the album a mixed review. Writing; "Let’s Go Sunshine’ is a solid album, though not groundbreaking" but did complement the band on trying new things; "whilst it’s not The Kooks we know and love, it’s still mostly remains true to the indie sound whilst being experimental in parts".[14] Another mixed review came from Exclaim! reviewer Beth Bowles. She was critical of the band apparently playing it safe; "Let's Go Sunshine scarcely veers into experimental territory, and as a result, the tracks lack unique characteristics" and went on to criticise the album as "boring" stating; "While collectively the songs are happy-go-lucky, giving off a carefree tone, at 15 tracks, Let's Go Sunshine gets boring quickly".[15]

Track listing

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
1.	"Intro"	Luke Pritchard Chris Seefried Hugh Harris	Brandon Friesen Seefried	0:20
2.	"Kids"	L. Pritchard Friesen	Friesen	3:40
3.	"All the Time"	L. Pritchard Friesen Seefried	Friesen Seefried	4:06
4.	"Believe"	L. Pritchard Friesen Seefried	Friesen Seefried	4:14
5.	"Fractured and Dazed"	L. Pritchard Harris	Friesen Seefried	4:37
6.	"Chicken Bone"	L. Pritchard Seefried Friesen Peter Denton	Friesen Seefried	3:45
7.	"Four Leaf Clover"	L. Pritchard Friesen Seefried	Friesen Seefried	3:23
8.	"Tesco Disco"	L. Pritchard Friesen Seefried	Friesen Seefried	4:44
9.	"Honey Bee"	L. Pritchard Bob Pritchard	Seefried	2:17
10.	"Initials for Gainsbourg"	L. Pritchard Friesen Seefried	Friesen Seefried	4:19
11.	"Pamela"	L. Pritchard Seefried	Friesen Seefried	3:04
12.	"Picture Frame"	L. Pritchard	Friesen L. Pritchard	3:40
13.	"Swing Low"	L. Pritchard Friesen Seefried	Friesen Seefried	3:44
14.	"Weight of the World"	L. Pritchard Seefried	Friesen Seefried	3:37
15.	"No Pressure"	L. Pritchard Seefried Harris	Friesen Seefried	3:36
16.	"The Argument (Bonus Pre-Order Fleix Disc Vinyl) https://twitter.com/thekooksmusic/status/1025048758235607042"
Total length:				53:06

Personnel

Luke Pritchard – vocals, guitar Hugh Harris – guitar, backing vocals Peter Denton – bass guitar, backing vocals Alexis Nunez – drums, percussion, backing vocals Charts Chart (2018) Peak position Australian Albums (ARIA)[16] 43 Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[17] 64 Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[18] 27 Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[19] 117 Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[20] 56 German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[21] 41 Irish Albums (IRMA)[22] 50 Scottish Albums (OCC)[23] 9 Spanish Albums (PROMUSICAE)[24] 67 Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[25] 38 UK Albums (OCC)[26] 9 UK Independent Albums (OCC)[27] 3 US Independent Albums (Billboard)[28] 24 Release history Region Date Format Label Ref. Various 31 August 2018 CD, DL, LP Lonely Cat (KOOKS001-P) [29] References "Standard Article", Standard, 16 May 2018. Retrieved on 4 September 2018. "Evening Standard Interview", Evening Standard Retrieved on 4 September 2018. "Production Information", Genius. Retrieved on 4 September 2018. "Tracklist and length", Amazon music. Retrieved on 4 September 2018. "Singles", NME 17 May 2018. Retrieved on 4 September 2018. "Clash Interview", Clash Music Retrieved on 4 September 2018. "Mid Week Charts", Official Charts Retrieved on 4 September 2018. thekooksmusic (3 January 2018). "As some of you may be aware, Pete is no longer playing with the band..." Twitter. Retrieved 3 January 2018. NME Blog (31 March 2017). "The Kooks take us inside the studio – exclusive pics and interview". NME. Retrieved 3 January 2019. Goodwyn, Tom (31 August 2018). ""We wanted to be outsiders…" - hmv.com talks to The Kooks". HMV. Retrieved 15 February 2019. Meyer, Jonas (31 August 2018). "Music Like A Good Friend". MYP. Retrieved 15 February 2019. "Reviews", Metacritic Retrieved on 4 September 2018. "Critical Reviews", AllMusic Retrieved on 4 September 2018. "Critical Reviews", Clash Retrieved on 4 September 2018. "Critical Reviews", Exclaim! Retrieved on 4 September 2018. "Australiancharts.com – The Kooks – Let's Go Sunshine". Hung Medien. Retrieved 8 September 2018. "Austriancharts.at – The Kooks – Let's Go Sunshine" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved 13 September 2018. "Ultratop.be – The Kooks – Let's Go Sunshine" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 7 September 2018. "Ultratop.be – The Kooks – Let's Go Sunshine" (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved 7 September 2018. "Dutchcharts.nl – The Kooks – Let's Go Sunshine" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 8 September 2018. "Offiziellecharts.de – The Kooks – Let's Go Sunshine" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved 7 September 2018. "Irish Albums Chart: 7 September 2018". Irish Recorded Music Association. Retrieved 8 September 2018. "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 8 September 2018. "Top 100 Albumes – Semana 36: del 31.8.2018 al 6.9.2018" (in Spanish). Productores de Música de España. Retrieved 12 September 2018. "Swisscharts.com – The Kooks – Let's Go Sunshine". Hung Medien. Retrieved 12 September 2018. "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 8 September 2018. "Official Independent Albums Chart Top 50". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 12 September 2018. "The Kooks Chart History (Independent Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved September 12, 2018. "Album Information", Discogs. Retrieved on 4 September 2018.