UK Chill duo Kinobe unveils new track ‘Lucky Stars’
British chill band Kinobe has returned with another mystically melodic song titled ‘Lucky Stars’ on July 5th, 2024 via the SGKL imprint. This scintillating single premiered via NOTION, and received early radio support from NPR Music, KEXP, and SBS Chill. It serves as an appetiser for their upcoming album Out of The Blue, slated for release on August 9th, 2024. The single and album were conceived at Kinobe HQ, a beautiful beach house in Western Australia overlooking the Indian Ocean, and mastered by the legendary Frank Arkwright (Blur, New Order, Coldplay, Oasis and many more) at Abbey Road. Kinobe became the quintessential downtempo group with the 2000 release of their Engelbert Humperdinck-sampling single ‘Slip Into Something More Comfortable’, which became an essential on every beach bar playlist as well as being licensed for innumerable compilations, soundtracks, and TV commercials. Despite lineup changes, the group has endured, releasing several acclaimed albums in the two decades since. Racking up over 50 million streams on Spotify alone, Kinobe has previously earned support from tastemaker publications CLASH Mag, Mixmag, DJ Mag, Sputnik Music, and Hot Press Magazine and has been featured in British broadsheet newspapers The Guardian and The Independent. Their music has aired on BBC Radio 2, BBC Radio 6 – The 6 Mix with Nemone, NPR Music, KEXP, SBS Chill, and NPO Radio 2 amongst others. Notably, they have been featured numerous times in the CD collections and Youtube channel of the iconic Chill-music brand Café del Mar.
Originally from the UK and currently based in Perth, Australia, Kinobe was formed in west London in 1998 by childhood friends Julius Waters and Mark “Blackie” Blackburn. They formed a duo together after Waters’ return from Perth, Australia, where he had spent the greater part of his teens. Both multi-instrumentalists with a plethora of retro influences including soul, funk, blues, jazz, and R&B, they quickly began making music together. Within a few months, and with a minimal setup of synth, computer, sampler, a record player found on the street and boxes of charity shop vinyl, they had recorded enough material for their debut album, and were quickly signed to Pepper Records, an imprint of Jive. That album, Soundphiles, was released in the year 2000 to instant acclaim. Drawing on a vast array of influences from string arrangers like Nelson Riddle, composers like John Barry and Lalo Shifrin, crooners like Frank Sinatra and Tony Bennet, to sixties bands like Canned Heat, Kinobe’s sound has drawn comparisons to the likes of lounge luminaries such as Air, Kruder & Dorfmeister, Groove Armada, and Thievery Corporation.
‘Lucky Stars’ is a breezy time-warp, melding Kinobe’s signature sparkle and sweet strings with crisp, strummed acoustic guitar, lilting flute melodies, a driving bassline, and electric guitar licks reminiscent of some of David Gilmour’s gentler moments. There is a hint of Percy Faith’s buoyant whimsy and Santo & Johnny’s sleepy dreaminess, with undertones of Pink Floyd’s brooding introspection. The track is a sunny daydream, no doubt destined to be the soundtrack of your summer.
