Jon Wilkes has been a busy man since his tenure as the drummer for The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus, a posting that would see him working on the group’s seminal work between 2005 and 2011. Between then and now, Wilkes has been whittling away at his new project, KOU, which sees him emerge from behind the kit to front and centre. Today, Wilkes has set free his latest single under the moniker; ‘Burn’.
Comprised of soaring vocals encased within atmospheric instrumentals, ‘Burn’ exists somewhere between the stratosphere and mesosphere; The flap of a butterfly’s wings that capitulates into a cyclonic drama told through the lens of post-hardcore.
Thematically, Burn pulls no punches, with Wilkes shirt fronting the regressive social norms that have put a match to an equitable world.
“When I wrote ‘Burn’ it felt like there was a shooting happening every other day in the news,” Wilkes says to Blunt Magazine. “‘Burn’ is about how we as humans have lost our way and let hatred consume us. Now is the time for us to try and find love again. To try to find each other again.”
Wilkes emerged from his studio hibernation with KOU last year, holding high above his head lead single ‘Time Is The Enemy’. In the time since, Wilkes has not minced words, making it clear that KOU has an agenda to make waves.
“KOU stands for Kingdom Of US. All of these songs are about things that happen to us collectively as humans,” he says of the project’s intent.
“KOU was started in the back of the tour bus in 2009 when I was still the drummer for The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus. Over the years I kept writing songs in between drumming projects until 2017. I woke up one morning realising it was time for me to transform myself into KOU.”
KOU has built up considerable kinetic energy since its debut, showing unmistakable traits of an unstoppable force and, thankfully, one with a positive message.
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