Declan McKenna: "I don’t think stuff sticks around when it just plays it safe"

Declan McKenna has, as a patronising great-uncle might say, been ‘at the music’ for almost 10 years now – releasing his breakthrough single, the football-corruption-condemning ‘Brazil’ in 2014, and winning Glastonbury’s Emerging Talent Competition just four months later. That milestone career anniversary is all the more impressive when you remember that the English singer-songwriter only turned 25 two months ago.

But unlike many of the music industry’s teen prodigies who vanish as rapidly as they’ve emerged, constant artistic evolution has been a defining feature of Declan’s approach – from the politically-charged pop of 2017’s What Do You Think About the Car? to the glam-rock-inspired Zeros, which peaked at No.2 in the UK in 2020. Now, he’s expanding his vision again, with his first post-lockdown album, What Happened To The Beach?

“I wanted to create something very different,” he tells me. “Having that time at home over the pandemic influenced it, because I was working independently, on quite intimate-sounding stuff. I felt a bit more confident about having something that’s more vulnerable sonically, and a little less smoothed-out, compared to the other records. Something that’s exposing, but in the right kind of way.”

Although he’s always been an independent spirit, Declan’s new album also serves as a testament to the power of embracing the ‘weird’ in pop.

“My view now is that you’re more likely to make something genuinely popular and likeable by doing things your own way,” he reasons. “I don’t think stuff sticks around when it just plays it safe, or repeats what’s gone before it in too obvious a way. The best way to compete is to avoid competition – to be in your own lane, running your own race. Maybe it won’t be for everyone, but for the people that like it, they appreciate it for what it is, because they know that it’s your thing.”

Building up the confidence to follow that lesser-tread path has come with time and experience, he tells me – having worked in the past with the likes of James Ford of the Last Shadow Puppets, Vampire Weekend’s Rostam Batmanglij, Nashville super-producer Jay Joyce, and now Gianluca ‘Luca’ Buccellati, the renowned American producer behind Arlo Parks’ Mercury Prize-winning Collapsed In Sunbeams.

“I’ve been able to pick up so many different ways of doing things,” he resumes. “Gianluca has so much confidence in his ideas, so he really gave me a lot of confidence as well. He set that tone – that we had to believe in ourselves, and trust in our own taste, and not let outside forces guide it. That’s the only real metric you can use: what you like.

“So even though you don’t always feel confident, and you don’t always feel good about everything you make, it’s important to remind yourself to trust in yourself. It’s not always easy to do that, but it’s important to override the fear and anxiety. It definitely feels like this album is rooted in that sort of confidence and belief – and trusting that you know what you’re doing.”

He recorded What Happened To The Beach? in Los Angeles – a location that ended up having a strong influence on the finished record.

“It helped the whole thing be a bit more relaxed, with the sunshine and the space,”  he explains. “But there’s also so much to observe there, because it’s a very strange place to spend a lot of time. It’s such a different lifestyle and there’s so much crazy shit going on. It’s hard not to be inspired by that.

“But it also feels very divided in a way. There’s the free-spirited thing, but there’s also a lot of people who are addicted to the grind. So there’s a real party culture, but there’s also the complete opposite of that as well. Everyone’s reaching for that perfect lifestyle – which is what I think we were alluding to with ‘Mulholland’s Dinner And Wine.’”

In an era where content creators are competing for all of our attention all of the time, Declan has taken a decidedly different approach – describing What Happened To The Beach? as a record designed to be listened to in a social setting.

“My last album was quite intense, and quite aggressive, sonically and lyrically,” he reflects. “It was quite in your face. If you’re listening to it, you have to be tuned in – I wouldn’t put it on in the background. So I was craving to do something that isn’t without substance, but can just accompany you through life, in a more subtle way.

“My favourite album last year was LA Priest’s Fase Lune. I could zone into it, but I could also leave it on in the background – and equally, it would serve this great purpose. That was the kind of album I wanted to make.”

That social element of the album also extended into its creation, with Declan leaning into collaboration more than ever.

“I just opened up to it more,” he nods. “A few years ago, I would’ve kept a lot of my writing quite close to my chest – not wanting to give it away until I thought it was done. Or I’d be embarrassed about stuff I was writing, before I felt it was done. Now I have none of that.

“There’s something great about allowing collaboration to be part of the process, and seeing the unexpected that can come out of it. We threw this party at the end of the whole thing, at 64 Sound, the studio in LA. We had a bunch of friends come around and we were just playing the album out. Everyone was able to jam little things over the top –  a bit of keys or guitar or drums. There’s bits of that dotted all over the album. Stuff like that makes the album feel alive.”

Declan has also previously collaborated with Irish star CMAT, co-writing ‘Vincent Kompany’, one of the standout tracks from her Choice Prize-nominated 2023 album Crazymad, For Me.

“From when we met, we just hit it off,” he recalls. “We really enjoyed writing together. She’s a really unique writer – unique in the way it sounds, but also in the way she works on music. I don’t really know anyone else quite like her. She’s able to be very spontaneous, but really attack what a song needs and be very focused.

“Her brain also works at a million miles an hour,” he laughs. “It’s really powerful. So I was really glad that that made the album – it’s a cool song.”

He’s equally thrilled to see CMAT score a BRIT nomination for International Artist of the Year, alongside the likes of Taylor Swift, Kylie Minogue and Miley Cyrus.

“It’s amazing,” he enthuses. “I guess it makes sense! But still, it’s just absolutely crazy.”

Declan – who, as the name suggests, has strong Irish roots himself – will be returning to Ireland for a string of gigs in April. Having previously played smaller Dublin venues, supporting the likes of Mystery Jets and Cage The Elephant, before working his way up to the Olympia Theatre on his last tour, his history with the city runs deep – though not quite as deep as his connection with Cork…

“I normally wind up in Cork, where my family is,” he tells me. “On the last tour, we went from the Olympia  – which is obviously a beautiful theatre – into Cyprus Avenue, which was absolutely sweating! It was the most raucous gig, absolutely unbelievable. But both are brilliant in their own way.

“We’re always back and forth from Ireland – every other year, if not every year. I’m very tight with that side of the family, so there’s a lot of good memories. I love being out there.”

• What Happened To The Beach? is out now. Declan McKenna plays Ulster Hall, Belfast (April 1); and 3Olympia Theatre, Dublin (April 2 & 3).