Some songs find their moment years after they’re written. “See Me Now” first appeared on The Kooks’ 2014 album ‘Listen’, spent a decade as a cherished deep cut, and then something shifted. A viral groundswell, a new generation of listeners, and a sold-out O2 Arena show in London turned it into the emotional centerpiece of the band’s biggest-ever UK headline tour. Now the live recording from that night is out, and it’s the version the song always deserved.
The performance is staggering in its quiet weight. Luke Pritchard sat alone at the piano, surrounded by tens of thousands of phone lights, singing to the father he lost when he was three years old. “Would you be proud?” The O2 crowd held that question with him. Pritchard has spoken openly about what unlocked the song’s new meaning: home tapes his mother delivered, footage he’d never seen, his father teaching a three-year-old Luke to use a microphone and pose like a rock star. “It was like a time capsule experience,” he says.
The accompanying music video, directed by Julien Temple (The Filth and the Fury, The Great Rock ‘N’ Roll Swindle), weaves that home footage together with clips from the original 2014 video and the O2 performance. Three stages of Luke’s life, one continuous story. Temple said he was “keen to work with Luke and bring his deeply moving relationship with his father to life.” The result is devastating in the best possible way.
The release lands during a strong stretch for the band. Their seventh album, ‘Never/Know’, released in May 2025, hit number 5 on the UK Albums Chart, their highest position since 2008, with NME calling it “The new era of The Kooks.” A new album is already in progress with producer Tony Berg (Phoebe Bridgers), with Pritchard describing it as leaning toward a “psychedelic rock and roll record.”
The Kooks also have a series of major outdoor summer shows lined up to mark the 20th anniversary of their debut album ‘Inside In/Inside Out’, including Delamere Forest, Scarborough’s Open Air Theatre, Isle of Wight Festival, and The Piece Hall in Halifax.
2026 Summer Shows:
Delamere Forest
Open Air Theatre, Scarborough
Sky Presents the Isle of Wight Festival
The Piece Hall, Halifax