Prep

Prep’s sound, finessed over two albums, four EPs and an upcoming new EP has made Prep (formed in 2015 when Tom, Llywelyn, Guillaume and Dan came together via various connections and friendships on the London music scene) into arena-scale outliers in multiple countries across the world.

10 years into their existence, and as proven on their exquisite albums Prep (2020) and The Programme (2024), what’s undeniable is the band’s intuitive understanding of, warm, intimate, simpatico production. Combining something as elusive as the “vibe” of 1970s jazz and West Coast US rock and soul, with something as precise as 1980s studio techniques, with something as geo-particular as Japanese City Pop, with something as totally, uniquely London and contemporary as their new EP One Day in the Sun.

On the title track, complete with finger-popping beat and soaring saxophone, One Day in the Sun is a moebius strip of perfect shiny pop.

This, then, is a four-track EP recorded and produced by the band in East Ham and Haringey, but that brims with music reaching across the hemispheres and eras. In one direction, American soul and jazz from half a century ago. In the other, the very modern fandom of Taiwanese megastars Sunset Rollercoaster, Prep’s collaborators on opening track Do What You Gotta Do. All in all, a refreshing and refining of that
singular Prep sound.