Album Review: Declan Mckenna - 'Zeros'
Declan Mckenna has been living in the clouds from a very young age, but five years on from his initial breakthrough and five years wiser, it is time for Mckenna to take off into the stratosphere on his sophomore album ‘Zeros’.
A lot has changed for the bright-eyed boy that introduced himself to the world with his contemporary protest song ‘Brazil’, especially in the world around him where fake realities are being built and the mess in front of his eyes is something that like many others he has been born into. This dystopia is the main theme right through ‘Zeros’, Mckenna showing maturity in his lyrics and vocals to thread together his own reality to replace our own as it continues to burn around us.
Confining himself to the deserts of Nashville to create the world of ‘Zeros’, it wouldn’t be doing this album an injustice to directly compare it to the likes of David Bowie who is a clear influence right throughout the 10 tracks. From guitar melodies to building his own character, Mckenna has taken elements from the greats and the depth of quality within the album really does put it into the same conversation as those greats.
Right from the off, you’re blasted off to this world with the high-octane and aggressive ‘You Better Believe!!!’ which is one of the standouts, before floating in the atmosphere of this new world in the Bowie tribute ‘Be An Astronaut’.
It is clear that Mckenna has no fear in stepping away from the indie sound that got him here, with ‘Rapture’ throwing in electronic influences that are going at 100mph and on the closing track ‘Eventually, Darling’ which uses synthesisers like we’ve never seen before from the 21-year-old.
The Mckenna of now to the Mckenna of ‘What Do You Think About the Car?’ is someone totally different, someone who has seen the troubles that his generation find themselves in and uses his unshakeable talent and boldness to tackles those issues in the only way he knows how to. The result is one of the best albums of the year and puts Mckenna where he truly belongs as one of this generations most talented young artists.
‘Zeros’ is available from the 4th September 2020 on all major streaming platforms and Declan Mckenna will kick off his album tour at the 02 Academy Sheffield on March 19th, 2021.
Words by Danial Kennedy