SPECIAL HOLIDAY GIFT TO FANS WHO HAVE BEEN PETITIONING FOR ITS RELEASE
THIRD STUDIO ALBUM WHAT HAPPENED TO THE BEACH? OUT FEBRUARY 9th
Declan McKenna shares his cover of ABBA’s “Slipping Through My Fingers” as a Christmas present to fans who have been petitioning for its release for close to two years. Declan originally performed the song on Instagram live back in 2021. A clip of him performing was subsequently uploaded by a fan account to TikTok earlier this year, which has since racked up over 475 million listens/views. There were initially no plans to release the song, but as a gift for fans this yuletide season (and to finally satiate his fans’ constant requests), Declan has recorded the song in full, performing all the instruments on the track and producing it himself. Listen to the song here.
Recently, McKenna shared the next track from his forthcoming album, What Happened To The Beach? (February 9th via Tomplicated Records) which Pitchfork highlighted a notable new music release in 2024. McKenna shared about the new song, “Elevator Hum was a tune that came in the latter stages of my first trip to LA working on the album with Luca. He threw the chords down and the riff fell into my hands. It’s a song that felt like it captured some nostalgic essence of friendship as we built a relationship through creating music together. The freedom and playfulness of the lyrics, and the gentle but fun glide of the track, take me back to being a kid in a way.” Listen to “Elevator Hum” here and watch the lyric video here.
Following extensive US touring throughout the year, playing to over 60,000 fans, Declan recently announced his UK/Ireland tour for the Spring, with additional dates since added in both Dublin and Glasgow. Tickets for all McKenna dates are available here.
For What Happened To The Beach? McKenna landed in California last year to work with producer Gianluca Buccellati, whose previous projects include Arlo Parks and Lana Del Rey. On his third studio album, McKenna taught and trusted himself to take his time and let the listener soak in the ambience. The result is an album that revels in both space and atmosphere. “The songs sound a lot like the music I listen to,” McKenna says about the new tunes, citing St Vincent (“She takes the guitar to a really cool place. Everything can be manipulated”) and Unknown Mortal Orchestra’s hypnotic and spacey energy as influences. Musically, you feel the freedom in the sound of a songwriter enjoying himself. “I wanted to open up and not worry about things so much,” McKenna says, “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.” What Happened To The Beach? is available to preorder on all formats here.
McKenna is in his early 20s and is approaching a new era in his journey as a songwriter. He is aware that writing a more personal album, particularly one that focuses on joy over disaster, might suggest a line drawn in the sand between Declan and Declan 2.0. “If every song features a lyrical statement then it loses some of its impact, too. I haven’t let go of that aspect of myself but I don’t want to live out that style forever.”
McKenna has always been a smart, literate songwriter. With What Happened To The Beach? he’s still all those things – he’s just down for a good time.
