Declan McKenna

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Declan McKenna (2018)

Declan McKenna (born December 24, 1998 in England ) is an English singer-songwriter . It is attributed to indie pop.

Life

McKenna grew up in Hertfordshire and has Irish ancestry. At the age of nine he began to learn to play the guitar. At the age of 15, he wrote the song Brazil , in which he denounced the corruption surrounding the 2014 World Cup . In 2015 he won the Emerging Talent Competition at Glastonbury Festival . He then signed a contract with the record label Columbia Records . He dropped out of school before completing the A levels .

On November 13, 2015, he performed in Paris when the terrorist attacks occurred , including at a rock concert by the band Eagles of Death Metal . He processed these experiences in the song The Kinds Don't Wanna Come Home . His song Isombard was chosen as one of the soundtracks for the soccer simulation game FIFA 17 , which was released in September 2016. For 2017 he was nominated for the BBC Sound of 2017 . In July 2017 he released his debut album What Do You Think About the Car .

In January 2019, he was part of a series of 50 British cultural workers who called on the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) to fight to prevent the 2019 Eurovision Song Contest from taking place in Israel . In August 2019 he released a new single, British Bombs , in which he criticized the British arms deals. On January 29, 2020, he announced the album Zero, recorded in Nashville , for May 15, 2020, and released the song Beautiful Faces . Due to the COVID-19 pandemic , he postponed the release of his album to August 21, 2020 and later again to September 4, 2020.

reception

The newspaper The Guardian gave his debut album What Do You Think About the Car four out of five stars. His songs are described there as protest songs, which do not appear tired of life, but rather sunny and encouraging. Another review of the newspaper criticized the fact that his choruses were often constructed, and the same album received three stars out of five.

The album received four stars out of six in the review by Musikexpress and its influence was described as follows: "It gives the Snapchat generation (or is it the Instagram generation ?) A voice."

style

McKenna writes many of his songs on political issues, initially addressing them directly. In the song Paracetamol, for example, he deals with the suicide of Leelah Alcorn , a transsexual teenager, and in the song Brazil, the corruption surrounding the soccer World Cup in Brazil in 2014 . With his album Zero , he says he distanced himself from addressing political and social issues directly. Instead, he said he incorporated them more subtly into his more recent works.

He often wears glitter on his face when he performs. McKenna himself declared to use guitar techniques from David Bowie and St. Vincent .

Discography

Albums

year title Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements
(Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes) 		Remarks
UK UK IE IE
2017 What Do You Think About the Car? UK11 (1 week)
UK 		IE26 (1 week)
IE

Singles

  • Brazil (2015, UK:silversilver)
  • Paracetamol (2016)
  • Bethlehem (2016)
  • Isombard (2016)
  • The Kids Don't Wanna Come Home (2016)
  • Humongous (2017)
  • Why Do You Feel So Down? (2017)
  • Make Me Your Queen (2018)
  • Listen to Yours Friends (2018)
  • British Bombs (2019)
  • Beautiful Faces (2020)
  • The Key to Life on Earth (2020)
  • Daniel, you're still a child (2020)
  • Be an astronaut (2020)

website

Commons : Declan McKenna  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c Mark Savage: Declan McKenna goes 'hyper-surreal' . In: BBC News . April 16, 2020 ( bbc.com [accessed April 16, 2020]).
  2. ^ A b Steve Cummins: Declan McKenna: 'Voice of a generation? It's just sensationalism '. Retrieved December 7, 2019 .
  3. ↑ Bayerischer Rundfunk Wieland Mikolajczyk: Presented // Declan McKenna: The Voice of Generation Z . February 15, 2017 ( br.de [accessed December 7, 2019]).
  4. ↑ Declan McKenna, interview: The voice of Generation Z. January 6, 2017, accessed December 7, 2019 .
  5. ↑ Electronic Arts: FIFA 17 Soundtrack - EA SPORTS. September 8, 2016, accessed December 7, 2019 .
  6. ↑ BBC Music - BBC Music Sound Of, 2017 - Declan McKenna. Retrieved December 7, 2019 (UK English).
  7. ↑ Letters: The BBC should press for Eurovision to be moved from Israel | Letter . In: The Guardian . January 29, 2019, ISSN  0261-3077 ( theguardian.com [accessed December 7, 2019]).
  8. ↑ Declan McKenna opens up about his politically charged new single 'British Bombs'. In: NME Music News, Reviews, Videos, Galleries, Tickets and Blogs | NME.COM. Retrieved August 19, 2019, December 7, 2019 (UK English).
  9. ↑ Laura Johnson: Declan McKenna Announces New Album 'Zeros', Shares First Single Beautiful Faces - Stereoboard. Accessed January 30, 2020 (English).
  10. ↑ Declan McKenna: Album Coming Later. In: RTL. March 25, 2020, accessed April 1, 2020 .
  11. ^ Damian Jones: Declan McKenna shares new track 'Be An Astronaut' and delays forthcoming album. In: NME. August 5, 2020, accessed August 7, 2020 (UK English).
  12. ^ A b Dave Simpson: Declan McKenna: What Do You Think About the Car? review - sun-soaked protest songs . In: The Guardian . July 20, 2017, ISSN  0261-3077 ( theguardian.com [accessed December 7, 2019]).
  13. ^ Phil Mongredien: Declan McKenna: What Do You Think About The Car? review - full of indie promise . In: The Observer . July 23, 2017, ISSN  0029-7712 ( theguardian.com [accessed December 7, 2019]).
  14. ^ Declan McKenna: What Do You Think About The Car? Accessed December 7, 2019 (German).
  15. ^ Declan McKenna: 'Everyone needs pop songs'. In: Big Issue. August 17, 2020, accessed on August 17, 2020 .
  16. ↑ Declan McKenna's New Track Will Make You Feel 'Humongous'. June 9, 2017, accessed December 7, 2019 .
  17. ↑ Chart sources: UK IE
  18. ↑ Music Sales Awards: UK
personal data
SURNAME McKenna, Declan
BRIEF DESCRIPTION English singer-songwriter
DATE OF BIRTH December 24, 1998
PLACE OF BIRTH England