Opus Kink Release New Single Low Roader Borrowing Scottish Folk Melody

Opus Kink has released a new single titled “Low Roader,” arriving as their first fresh material since their summer debut album, stereogum.com reported.

The track borrows its verse melody from the traditional Scottish folk song “The Bonnie Banks o’ Loch Lomond.” While the original tune is a mourning ballad about lovers separated by death, the new release adopts a considerably different musical approach, according to stereogum.com. The publication characterizes the track as a fast, forceful listening experience featuring circling saxophones and surf-rock guitars that land somewhere between ska-punk and jazzy rockabilly.

Frontman Angus Rogers explained the conceptual weight behind the composition. Low Roader is a song concerning complacency, ignorance and historical amnesia, Rogers said, as reported by stereogum.com. He added that in the traditional folklore surrounding the tune, the low road serves as the fairy route utilized by the dead to travel back to their homeland.

The single arrives via So Recordings and was recorded in Brighton, readdork.com reported. Producer Jake Smallwood steered the studio sessions following a busy summer of festival appearances and album promotion for their debut full-length record, The Sweet Goodbye.

Alongside the single release, the Brighton six-piece is preparing for an extensive UK and European headline tour. The live run kicks off on November 17, in Blackpool at the Bootleg Social, according to readdork.com.

The schedule features the band’s largest headline performance to date at London’s O2 Forum Kentish Town on November 26. Several stops across the United Kingdom, including Glasgow, Manchester, and Bristol, are already marked as sold out, with continental European dates following in December and international shows stretching into 2027.