Liminal Space
Kyros’s last full studio album was released in 2020, when the world was in a different place. With freedom to roam again, the band are back with a bang on their fourth LP, Mannequin, and they’ve got plenty to say. Prog catches up with the pop-friendly, shape-shifting quartet to find out more.
Words: Chris Cope Images: Grace Hayhurst
Not standing still: Kyros are ever-changing, and loving it.
"The realisation that we can do whatever we want and no one will stop us is kind of magical,” says Kyros’s Shelby Logan Warne, and who are we to disagree?
The British-based, pop-meets-progmeets-metal quartet have furrowed a unique path of individuality in recent years, and on their fourth studio album, Mannequin, it appears the dial has been nudged even more. Keyboard player and vocalist Warne points to styles and sounds like new jack swing, which pop up among the 10 new retrotinged tracks. This musical melting pot never forget about the melody, though, and that’s a key part of how Kyros have created a record that could well take them far.
“I don’t think we’re a band that’s ever been too overly conscious about our quote/unquote ‘sound’,” drummer Robin Johnson adds. “There’s some bands who might not release a song because they’re like, ‘That doesn’t really sound like us, we’re not going to do that.’ We’ve always been more of the mindset that if we’ve written it, then it sounds like us, by nature of us having written it. We’re happy to let that be the guide really.”