Declan McKenna, the man of many outfits and many more pop-rock hits, has delighted fans across the nation – nay, the world – with the announcement of his newest album: What Happened To The Beach?
The 24-year-old London born artist teased the album with a quick photo on his socials, donning a metal detector in the middle of a field. There’s also a couple of cows in the background – leaving this writer to wonder if a return to Worthy Farm (home of Glastonbury festival) in 2024 is on the cards?
Speaking to NME, Declan said: “Nothing Works’ came out of the frustration of feeling boxed in and tied to expectation, but it is a euphoric tune, at its core it’s a celebration of being true to yourself.”
I can’t help but agree – with an almost minor and melancholic verse, its chorus bursts with sprinkled piano and self-referential lyrics of: “When I sing the song but you didn’t like the verse, I try to fix myself but nothing works”. This ironic blend of meaningful, significant lyrics with a lovely, disco beat is textbook McKenna, with the mixture of positive music with negative lyrics shades of previous songs such as ‘British Bombs’ and ‘Brazil’.
Referring to the album, Declan continued: “In the past few years there has been a bit of weight behind making music. I wanted to open up and not worry about things so much. I was putting a lot of pressure on myself in the past when I just needed to drop the intensity a bit and have some fun.I will always speak my mind with music, but we live in a time where the conversations I wanted to contribute to previously are much more out in the open now.
What Happened To The Beach? will be released on Friday 9th February 2024, and is available for preorder here.
Words by Tom Moorcroft
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