The Kooks have announced they will release a career-spanning compilation album on May 19.

Titled ‘Best Of… So Far’, the album will feature hits including ‘Naive’, ‘She Moves In Her Own Way’, ‘Ooh La’, ‘Always Where I Need To Be’, and ‘Shine On’, plus two new songs: ‘Be Who You Are’ and ‘Broken Vow’.

To accompany the album announcement, the band have shared ‘Be Who You Are’. “[It] sounds very much like old school Kooks,” frontman Luke Pritchard told NME recently. “It’s written in that vein – it’s an upbeat down rock ‘n’ roll tune, and it’s got a guitar solo [laughs]! It’s a fun tune.”


He added: “Lyrically, it’s all me looking in the mirror. The songwriting put me back in that time, so I was trying to write a song that I would have written then. It was quite a creative process for me. I was like, ‘What would I have written then, and what kind of style should it be?’ The lyrics are all self-reflective and about me at that time. I thought it would be good to go with all the other songs, so it’s a nice reflective moment.”

Listen to the track here.

Press

In the album announcement, Pritchard said of the band’s Best Of album: “It’s been the greatest pleasure to work, travel, fight, hate and love the best and most talented people I’ve met in my life. It’s the greatest job in the world and we don’t intend to stop any time soon.”

The band are currently preparing for a massive UK ‘Best Of’ tour that begins later this month. They are also due to perform at this summer’s Isle of Wight and TRNSMT festivals. Check out their full list of tour dates below.

April 20 Manchester Academy

April 21 Manchester Academy

April 22 O2 Academy Birmingham

April 24 Baths Hall, Scunthorpe

April 25 O2 Academy Leeds

April 27 O2 Academy Newcastle

April 28 O2 Academy Glasgow

April 29 Olympia, Liverpool

May 01 Rock City, Nottingham

May 02 Colston Hall, Bristol

May 04 O2 Guildhall, Southampton

May 05 Pavilions, Plymouth

May 06 O2 Academy, Bournemouth

May 08 UEA, Norwich

May 09 Corn Exchange, Cambridge

May 11 De Montford Hall, Leicester

May 12 Cliffs Pavilion, Southend-On-Sea

May 13 Alexandra Palace, London

May 28 Liverpool Sound City

June 10 Isle of Wight Festival

July 08 TRNSMT Festival, Glasgow