Kaiser Chiefs' new album is full of 'instant hits'

23 September 2016

Kaiser Chiefs' new record is an album of "instant hits".

Ricky Wilson

The rock band - fronted by Ricky Wilson - will release their new album 'Stay Together' on October 7, and according to the former 'The Voice UK' coach the record channels the idea of playing festivals where everyone knows the words to the songs. Frontman Ricky, 38, has admitted that he "forgot" how much he loved making singles, and so wanted to make an album full of them.

Speaking to The Sun newspaper, the 'Ruby' hitmaker said: "We weren't into making a guitar record this time. We wanted to remember our ethos [...] When we wrote our first record, all we wanted to do was to play festivals where everyone remembered us. To do that we had to write what sounded to us like instant hits.

"I think somewhere along the way of our career we forgot this is what we love doing. So on this record we've gone back to writing songs that when people hear them for the first time they go, 'I know this and I am enjoying it and don't care who the band is. I like it.'"

The 'Parachute' hitmakers - also comprised of Andrew White, Simon Rix, Nick Baines, and Vijay Mistry - hooked up with Brian Higgins, the producer behind hits for Kylie Minogue, Girls Aloud and The Pet Shop Boys, for their sixth studio LP.

Speaking about working with Brian, Simon said: "(It was) Intense. But in a good way as he really knew our music -- even more than we did at times. And he pushed us forward which was a real confidence boost."

Ricky added: "His passion working with us was incredible. You can work with any producer in the world if you've got a big enough cheque book but we didn't even discuss payment or anything like that with Brian at the start. He was just so keen to work with us."

Meanwhile, Ricky admits that he thinks the reason Kaiser Chiefs are still going strong after a decade of making music, is simply because they "have fun".

He said: "We just enjoy it and have fun together. And nothing actually catastrophic has happened to us. We've done all right and we are still here and that's how we will continue. Just seeing what comes next."