LIVE REVIEW: KYKO – BRIGHTON
Kyko
Hope & Ruin, Brighton, 27th March 2017
Words: Tara Matthews
Words: With the release of an EP a couple of weeks ago, it was only right that Kyko would embark on a UK tour, starting at Brighton’s Hope & Ruin and continuing through to Manchester, Southampton and ending with a sold out date at London’s newest venue, Omeara.
The EP is typically Kyko, sounding like Ed Sheeran after being dragged through a rainforest. 4 tracks of quintessential indie-pop coming out as a solid body of work.
Opening the night was Maisie, who, unfortunately, I can find nothing about online at all. She played acoustic songs with angsty lyrics, similar to Kate Nash’s tongue ’n’ cheek style of writing.
Kyko took to the stage and opened with newest single Dive In. A synth-pop gem with harmonies and slick guitar lines galore. The group on stage seemed natural, playing through singles and EP tracks with ease.
Older single Pull Me Up showcased Kyko and his band in a way they deserved. The band played through tracks such as fan favourites Mexico and Horizon as well as debuting new tracks Time and Good Life before they concluding with arguably Kyko’s biggest track, Native.
With a chorus akin to a Saint Raymond track and somewhat Eastern influences in the backing vocals like that of a Bombay Bicycle Club song, this song went down the best with the otherwise laid back crowd, as the mood lifted clearly bringing people to the front and dancing rather than nodding, something that I felt the group on stage deserved from the get-go.