REVIEW: Opus Kink - The Sweet Goodbye

Is it finally time to ditch the “Windmill Scene” moniker? Because what makes a band or artist sound “windmill-y” is a little unclear at this point. Sure, in the late 2010s you could easily point to groups like FAT WHITE FAMILY, SHAME and the wave of seven-inch singles released on Speedy Wunderground as having something of a similar sound. But since then, there’s been much more variation in genre within the walls of the Brixton Windmill, with electronic acts like PVA and FAT DOG, as well as the slow, methodical DEATHCRASH, which couldn’t sound any less alike. But in the centre of all this, there’s always been groups combining post-punk with saxophones - and the best part is they all sound nothing alike.

OPUS KINK have almost been impossible to pin down with their past two EPs. 2022’s Til The Stream Runs Dry was a great introduction, with an absolute powerhouse of a title track to close off their debut, then in 2023 they seemingly caught lightning in a bottle with My Eyes, Brother, one of the most eclectic 25 minutes you’ll ever hear. So a full LP was always on the table, and living up to the hype of those first two EPs is no small feat - so it only makes sense that they took a few years before releasing The Sweet Goodbye.

We open with Come Over, Do Me Wrong, featuring everything that makes the group likeable. An almost spoken-word delivery, a klezmer-y saxophone melody, and a strange breakdown in the middle that borders on chaos, but rides that line with a tight rhythm to bind it together. The repeating motif of “half of any good thing” followed by “is its proximity to its end” or “is the reason it cannot be yours” is an apt thesis statement for the song. Frontman Angus Rogers describes it as “the mad philosophical leap of ‘I don’t care what you do as long as you do it to me’”. That much might be clear from the title alone, but there’s a certain wit about it - some of those lines make it a worthwhile album opener on its own.

There’s more where that came from as well, second track Will It Come For You? is built around foreboding, whispery background vocals and a melodically minimalist bassline. Notably, the song takes a much more quiet turn in a bridge before the final chorus, as Rogers ponders on this disaffected feeling of purpose in the face of the enormity of the world. Meanwhile, the title track is a similarly playful affair as the opening track, the band’s inherent strangeness worming its way in during a chorus of baritone voices towards the end. 

The Tom Waits-esque feel of this moment is carried into the following track, Peckham Nocturne, whose sleazy saxophones and shuffly rhythm wouldn’t feel out of place on an album like Rain Dogs. There’s an almost noir-ish feel to it that makes “The Long Goodbye” feel like a more appropriate title, feeling out of time similarly to Marlowe in that film, like walking into a sketchy bar that stinks of whisky. It’s a shame that it’s the shortest track on here, because it’s likely the standout in terms of personality.

Crucify! dwarfs the rest of the track lengths here, at just over six minutes, and split into two sections that both stand on their own yet compliment each other. The first is more of what we’ve heard over the past half hour or so, angular melodies, quirky and poetic lyricism, and some genuinely lovely harmonies during the chorus. The second half on the other hand is a slow buildup, with the repeated phrase of “crucify me now” underpinning the whole thing. Meanwhile, a cacophony of saxophones slowly become more and more berserk until the song unceremoniously fades out. You’d expect this to be the closer, but OPUS KINK still have one more surprise up their sleeve.

Oh, Irony is almost like their take on DAVID BOWIE’s Rock ‘n’ Roll Suicide, which feels like a strange comparison to make. Maybe it’s the chord progression, the horns, or the feeling of melancholy surrounding it. Either way, the song tricks you into thinking it’s going to end on some similarly explosive and grand outro, but it never really does. It feels bittersweet, with the percussion, a synth, and a brass section to send us out. Somehow it still feels satisfying - a “sweet goodbye”, some may say.

To loop back to where we started, is it possible for OPUS KINK to escape the endless comparisons to the “Windmill scene”? Well, that’s a trick question, really. If BLACK COUNTRY, NEW ROAD and the former members of BLACK MIDI couldn’t do it with their new and vastly different styles, it’s hard to believe anyone can. That being said, with this album, OPUS KINK also firmly cement their own sound. At points, maybe it lacks the same exciting variety as their prior EPs, but it’s a good start. They’re the kind of band who can clearly branch out even further and it would be a fantastic thing to see where they go next.

Score: 7/10

The Sweet Goodbye will be released on 31st July 2026 via SO Recordings.

Words: Noise Leonard

Photos: Jacob Ray