The Kinks have been teasing fans about a reunion that never seems to materialize for the greater part of the past decade, but its now finally happening. In a 2018 interview with Channel 4 News in England, Ray Davies said he was recording a new Kinks record with his brother Dave Davies and original Kinks drummer Mick Avory. The trouble is, the two remaining members, my brother Dave and Mick, never got along very well, Ray said. But Ive made that work in the studio and its fired me up to make them play harder, and with fire.
This has really been going on for a couple of years, Dave Davies told Rolling Stone via phone on Tuesday. We keep going backwards and listening to a lot of old stuff. Some of that is very good, and some of it needs a bit of work.
Much of their time was devoted to finding tracks for a 50th anniversary of their landmark concept record Arthur (Or the Decline and Fall of the British Empire), which Dave says will come out in October. Thats virtually done, he says. Its a really, really interesting package thats going to have other songs from that time period like [my solo song] Hold My Hand.
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The process of going through the archives has led them to numerous songs from their long history that remain unreleased. Some we recorded but never used, says Dave. Others dont have finished vocals or they need other embellishments.
The group has been recording some new compositions by Ray along with finishing off some of these older songs and re-recording them. Avory drums on some of the tracks, while his replacement Bob Henrit, who played with the group from 1984 to 1996, appears on others. They have yet to figure out who will play bass once they formally record them. (Original Kinks bassist Pete Quaife died in 2010. Jim Rodford, who played bass with the group from 1978 to their breakup in 1996, died last year.) The songs are really just in demo form now, says Dave. But good demos. Ray is still dissecting various other material we might use. The intention is to get the work out, but its not a done deal.
In the meantime, Dave is planning to record another Open Road LP with his son Russ David and go on another solo tour. When asked if the Kinks will tour now that theyre recording together again, Dave lets out a long, deep laugh. Interesting question, he says. I really dont know. I think its possible. Its not out of the question. But at this stage, its far too early to say. It would be fun though, wouldnt it?