Kokoroko - Tuff Times Never Last (Album)

Kokoroko Return With Uplifting Sophomore Album Tuff Times Never Last.

London’s own Kokoroko are back with Tuff Times Never Last, their long-awaited second studio album—a vibrant, soulful celebration of resilience, joy, and play. Three years after their acclaimed debut Could We Be More, the eight-piece Afrobeat collective return with a sound that leans into dance floors, sunshine, and emotional release.

Blending 80s Brit-funk, West African disco, lovers rock, bossa nova and more, this new record is a warm, expansive exploration of rhythm and spirit. “We asked ourselves, ‘What do we want our next years to feel like?’” says co-bandleader Onome Edgeworth. “And we wrote music with the intention of it having colour and a sense of playfulness.”

The latest single Da Duh Dah captures that beautifully—a tender, synth-tinged love song with echoes of Loose Ends and Donald Byrd. Its nostalgic, lo-fi video directed by Akinola Davies Jr. (Blood Orange, Neneh Cherry) sees the band reimagined as kids roaming London, tapping into the album’s central theme of holding onto innocence in tough times.

Having already turned heads with earlier singles Sweetie, Closer To Me and Just Can’t Wait, Tuff Times Never Last affirms Kokoroko’s place at the heart of London’s thriving jazz-soul-funk scene. And with their biggest headline show to date at Brixton Academy this September, it’s clear the best is yet to come.