Following on from his previous albums, Changing Faces (2022) and Fragile Creatures (2024), KUILL returns with the highly anticipated ‘Sonder.’ His last EP ‘The Green Time Machine’ reached #24 on the official top 40 album downloads chart and an early listen to the album has been made available ahead of its March 2027 release.
To some, KUILL may be best known for appearing on The Voice UK, where he gained a whole new legion of fans. Having followed his work since his West End starring days, it’s a privilege to be given the opportunity to listen to the album ahead of the release date. With Sonder, KUILL shrugs off the expectations that still tend to follow artists who come from reality TV, delivering an album that prioritises versatility and emotional depth over any single defining sound.
The album takes its title from the term sonder, defined as the realisation that every person you encounter is living a life as vivid and complex as your own. This idea is introduced through opening track ‘The Road to Sonder,’ an orchestral piece featuring voiceovers from Con O’Neill and Richard Macey. Acting as a philosophical overture, it gently frames the album’s emotional perspective, inviting reflection on shared humanity before the record fully unfolds.
The album was recorded and produced largely in Los Angeles, and there’s a clear sense of scale and polish to the production throughout. Adding another conceptual layer, each track is named after a book, an intriguing choice that subtly reinforces the album’s themes of perspective and interconnected lives, neatly echoing the meaning behind Sonder itself.
Rather than settling into one genre, Sonder moves fluidly between styles. Elements of pop, electro-synth, and balladry sit comfortably alongside one another. This variety becomes one of the album’s defining traits, allowing each track to maintain its own identity while highlighting KUILL’s adaptability as both a vocalist and songwriter.
Vocally, KUILL remains the album’s clear through line, anchored by his signature tone and expressive delivery. Performances are consistently controlled, shifting effortlessly from restrained, intimate moments to more expansive and emotionally charged compositions. ‘Quicksand’ and ‘Into the Silent Sea’ introduce a cooler electro-pop palette, their understated synth work carrying faint echoes of Pet Shop Boys without feeling overtly referential.
The album’s strongest stretch arrives in a run of three tracks. ‘Tired Eyes’ gives way to ‘Mistakes We Never Made,’ an anthemic, rousing moment built for clapping along to its insistent beat, before ‘Selfish Society’ closes the sequence with sharp focus. Featuring Ryan Smith, the track turns its lens on the current state of the world, the pair’s voices blending seamlessly. Opening with the line, “too busy being offended to hear what he has to say,” it captures the culture of instant reaction and division, culminating in the blunt refrain: “There’s a fucking problem with the world we see / can’t help but shape a selfish society.”
Collaboration plays a big part across Sonder. As a predominantly musical theatre focused blog, it’s especially nice to hear Ross Harmon feature on duet ‘Tried.’ Known for Wicked and Heathers, Harmon brings a theatrical warmth that fits KUILL’s style really naturally. ‘The Midnight Library’ sees a collaboration with long-time friend and fellow musical theatre performer A.J Bentley. Elsewhere, ‘A Quiet Place’ features rising viral vocalist Benji James, with both artists sharing a softer, more distant kind of chemistry on a love song rooted in emotional healing and reassurance.
A personal highlight comes with the Sam Fender-esque ‘Last Night,’ which stands out for its emotional directness and anthemic pull, driven by insanely catchy chords that give the track a soaring yet bittersweet edge. Lyrically, it captures the moment a relationship quietly begins to unravel, leaning into themes of inevitability and acceptance rather than anger or conflict. It also hints at an internal struggle before shifting to more reflective acceptance. The result is a track that feels intimate but expansive, balancing reflective songwriting with a chorus built for release and impact.
Overall, Sonder feels like KUILL really stepping into his own as an artist. It’s a record that’s ambitious without feeling overthought, and varied without losing its thread. More than anything, it has a real sense of intention behind it, like an artist not just trying different sounds, but actually saying something with them. It feels like a real step forward and one that makes you genuinely curious about where he goes next.
The album is available to pre-save on streaming platforms now, with a physical vinyl release to follow.
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