Ray hinted at a full Kinks comeback in 2018 with this never coming to fruition. Ray shared, “Well, it got shelved because of… other issues. But there’s still material there. When I get time.” Speaking on his inspiration for new tracks, Ray said the songs are stemming from “home demos” that he has been recording for around thirty years.

He shared, “We’ve got loads of songs there in pieces. There are about two or three songs I want to finish, and when they’re finished, I’ll put the whole thing together.”

Ray also delved into the feud between the original band members, speaking on the artistic differences between himself, his brother Dave Davies and drummer Mick Avory. He shared, “We’re just different animals. We found ourselves at a very young age being in each other’s faces. And we had to work with it somehow.”

Speaking on his brother Dave, Ray shared that he would need to “persuade [him] to come on too” if a full reunion were to happen. He continued, “You’ve gotta be careful because he’ll run off in one direction and I’ll [run] in mine… He’s like that. He stays in control.”

Ultimately, The Kinks reuniting hinges on the band being able to put together “a show that gives us the credit we deserve,” according to Ray.

In the absence of new music, The Kinks have recently released a new anthology series to celebrate the 60th anniversary of their formation. The anthology, titled The Journey, is a two-part compilation of their favourite moments from their catalogue. In a press release for The Journey, Ray Davies said, “Ask yourself the question, is this journey really necessary? …Yes!”

Dave Davies also shared his excitement, saying “I’m delighted with what I think is an inspiring selection of timeless and magical Kinks music.”

‘The Journey – Part 2′ is OUT NOW The band have handpicked a selection of songs, celebrating 60 years of The Kinks, one of the most influential rock bands ever! Dig into these iconic tracks and take yourself on a journey https://t.co/M6XuedWlXe pic.twitter.com/ixnXuop12g

— The Kinks (@TheKinks) November 17, 2023

Has ‘The Journey – Part 2′ had you dancing around all weekend like Ray and Mick? https://t.co/M6XuedWTMM pic.twitter.com/leHczMqAeR

— The Kinks (@TheKinks) November 20, 2023

Purchase The Journey here.

The Kinks’ Dave Davies: ‘Ray and I have spoken about a reunion – it’s possible!’ | The Independent https://t.co/DrU0XytBpZ

— Dave Davies (@davedavieskinks) July 26, 2022

Dave and his brother, lead singer Ray Davies have famously had a difficult relationship. The band never formally split, last taking the stage together as The Kinks back in 1996. Talking to The Independent to promote his candid new memoir Living on a Thin Line, Davies said about the possibility of the reunion, “Ray and I have spoken about it – it’s possible! We get on okay…We talk about football! We’re born-and-bred Arsenal fans… So, yeah, I’m optimistic about the future.”

Back in 1964, Davies was a 17-year-old obsessed with science fiction and liked to “make silly things that didn’t make any sense with bits of wire”. On the creation of the seminal guitar sound that Davies used on “You Really Got Me”, he told The Independent, “I’d had an argument with my girlfriend and I was full of rage and pissed off. Rather than slash me wrists, I thought I’d attack the speaker cone. I sliced the cone down, virtually all the way around, and was quite surprised that it was still working. It had this kind of raspy sound, and I liked it.”

The brothers had just formed the band with a friend Pete Quaife playing bass, and Ray was starting to write songs on the family’s upright piano. Davies goes on to explain the origin of one of rock music’s most famous riffs telling the paper, “He wrote the ‘You Really Got Me’ riff on that piano, I tried it with my new sound and that’s how we really started.” The rest was history as that crunching F chord crashed out of speakers all over the world; the sound influencing musicians from Jimi Hendrix to Tom Petty – rock music was never the same again.

Asked about his thoughts on the song after all these years, Davies told The Independent, “I thought it was amazing, I felt more like an inventor. Some people adored the sound, and others hated it, but once we put it into the context of the song Ray was writing it started to become what it became, which was a phenomenon. It was a phenomenal time anyway. It seemed like the working class was really breaking through with art and movies and music.”

“You Really Got Me” was released in August 1964 as the band’s third single and quickly hit the number one spot the following month, searing the band’s influence onto the beating heart of the Swinging Sixties.

Brother of frontman Ray, Dave Davies has not had the best relationship with his fraternal bandmate and the band used their official Facebook account today to deny Mojo’s claim that the band were preparing to reunite next year with or without Dave.

The quote came from an interview with Ray Davies in which he is quoted to have said “Dave’s invited to the party, but if he doesn’t want to do it, [the reunion] will happen anyway. He’s very welcome to turn up if he wants. I’d much rather work with him than without him.” The official Kinks Facebook page claims that “There will be NO Kinks reunion without BOTH Ray and Dave Davies. Ray Davies claims to have never said this.”

What exactly was said, and indeed what is planned, will remain unknown for the time being. Whilst fans will be hoping for the band to get back together next year, it looks increasingly unlikely that they will be appearing in any form other than one including Dave Davies.

The brothers, who formed the Kinks in 1964 in Muswell Hill, London, have not played together since 1996, and have not released original material together in two decades, since 1993,’s ‘Phobia’. The turbulent relationship between the two was well-publicised, and has been cited as a leading cause in the eventual deterioration of the band.

The members have continued independent musical careers since the 1996 break-up – Ray recording four solo albums, the last of which, ‘Working Man’s Café’ was released in 2007, and Dave releasing six albums, the most recent, ‘I Will Be Me’, earlier this year. Five of the remaining former Kinks members, including co-founder and drummer Mick Avory, have been involved in a spin-off band The Kast-Off Kinks.

Rumours of a Kinks reunion have been circulating for a number of years – in the early 2000’s both brothers expressed interest in performing together again, but these hopes were delayed when Dave suffered a debilitating stroke in 2004. They again expressed positive interest in a reunion in 2011, though their still rocky business relationship and Ray’s insistence on recording fresh material has proved an obstacle thus far.

In BBC Breakfast interview, Ray stated that he had discussed the possibility on a number of occasions with his brother this summer and that:

‘There’s got to be new music involved. I’m proud of that back catalogue and I play it when I do shows. I was talking to my brother about two weeks ago. As long as there’s something new to go forward with rather than stay in the past, I’m interested. We’ve negotiated. In sporting terms, he’s talking to his agent.”

It is not yet clear how many Kinks members would be involved in the reunion, though the death of bassist Pete Quaife in 2010 has made the prospect of an original line-up impossible.