On the back of the hugely successful, Xfm record of the week ‘Uh Oh’, the artists formerly known as The Kicks have expanded into a full band and rebranded as just Kick. Creating a buzz among the toilet venues across London and the home counties, Kick have released their first proper single ahead of a 4 date tour across the north of the nation.
Heading up the imminent release of their first EP, ‘Sky and Sea’ sees Phillip McHugh and Jordan Heggie contemplating the confusion of romantic relationships changing as they head through the tumultuous time of leaving childhood and entering adulthood. Combining the classic formula of euphoric instrumentation with despairing lyrics, Kick have managed to create a song so relatable, so familiar, yet so fresh you can nearly feel the surf blowing across a beach in the breeze at the end of winter.
Lucid guitar lines’, driving bass riffs, a beautiful breakdown before it heads in to its outro, ‘Sky and Sea’ is a technical yet simple masterstroke. This new single sees Kick releasing their best song to date, still catchy as hell but not as simple as ‘Uh Oh’. Lyrically, we find desperation, desire and confusion ranging from the likes of Depeche Mode right through to the modern day morbidity of White Lies; only we find hope for the relationship here in ‘Sky and Sea’. In the opening verse it is clear that the protagonist of the song isn’t happy to simply watch his relationship break down; a nostalgic longing for youth haunts the lines ‘Why can’t we play all day?’. As we reach the crescendo we are hit with the stunningly poetic line ‘You will find me, where sky blurs in to sea’, evoking the idea that one half of the couple has drifted way out on to the horizon, driving home the notion that making any decisions is even more difficult.
This is a song that will get you dancing, have you singing along and even tapping into your feelings; let’s face it, we have been through difficult patches in young relationships, relationships where the effects of time and ‘new sensations’ and the ‘temptations’ detailed in the song have altered the state of a relationship that once seemed so permanent.
‘Sky and Sea’ was actually inspired by a trip to Brighton pier, where Kit Wheldale’s slick video was filmed, so hopefully we will see them return and play some shows down on the south coast sometime soon. For now you can find the video below and download the song on iTunes here: https://itunes.apple.com/gb/album/sky-and-sea-single/id814760655
Written by Ben McBride
