London pop duo Kira
Photo by Charlotte Rutherford

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Music

Kira Make Bright, Sticky Pop Music About Emotional Vulnerability

The London duo's new song “That Would Be a Lie” sounds kind of like an 80s electro pop Fleetwood Mac.
Daisy Jones
London, GB

Dating, and intimacy in general, is a precarious balancing act. If you’re into someone, your instinct might be to tell them every little thing about yourself immediately, reading all their favourite books (omg, I just love this spy thriller set in rural Bolivia) and scrolling through their IG pics while you’re at work with a weird, creepy smile on your face. If you have some sense, though, you’ll know it’s good to hold back. You don’t need to reply to that WhatsApp right now! Hang with your mates tonight instead! Keep some stuff to yourself FFS! Reveal yourself slowly, layer by layer, and with care.

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The new song from London pop duo Kira, “That Would Be a Lie”, is kind of about that. Or, more accurately, it’s about navigating your real feelings (most of us aren't robots), while also not wanting to lose someone by scaring them away. “I’m playing it cool just to keep you inside / but I’m ready to lose you this time,” sings Katie – one half of the band, alongside Will – her crystalline voice holding back at first, the slow-building 80s synth lines eventually exploding into a bright, fully-charged chorus. It sounds a bit like an electro-pop Fleetwood Mac. And we’re also premiering it today, so you can smash play below.

“This is about my own situations, but also about those of my friends, who have a lot of drama,” Katie tells me over the phone from west London, where both of them have paused from making music in the studio to chat. She continues: “It’s about being in a very modern relationship, a sexual relationship, that you want to take further. But you’re really scared to tell the person how you feel – about weighing up those options in that scenario.” What does she mean by ‘a very modern relationship’? “With dating apps, and with there being so much choice, people are less willing to commit,” she goes on. “It’s a classic millennial state of mind. I know I’ve been guilty of that, and so have a lot of people I know.”

This will only be Kira’s second release. Their debut track, “If It Makes You Feel Better”, was also about the nuances of intimacy and vulnerability, delivered through vivid, sticky pop production and ice-clear vocals. According to Will and Katie, that first track wasn’t really supposed to happen, and they didn’t realise it would lead to a fully-formed band. Will just sent Katie a minute-long production loop over WhatsApp, and she replied immediately with a voice-note of her singing the chorus. “We were both doing other things, in other bands. It was only around Christmas last year that we started making music together,” Will says. Katie continues: “We weren’t really thinking anything of it, but then our friends were listening, and they were like ‘you should do something about this!’”

You might recognise Will from being in another synth duo, Crystal Bats, or Katie for previously featuring in a band called rituals, but right now, they tell me Kira has become their main focus. “We’re going to LA in a couple of weeks to do some more writing. We’ve got loads of songs; we just need to finish them,” Will says. “Then we’ll be doing some live shows around spring time next year.” Before then though, they're spending every day and night holed up in the studio, turning all the weird parts of relationships – the intensity, the grey areas, the boredom – into pure, powerful pop songs.

You can find Daisy on Twitter.