On his previous record, ‘What Do You Think About The Car?’ (released in 2017) McKenna was branded the voice of a generation. It was in this record that he discussed issues such as religious hypocrisy (in ‘Bethlehem’) and xenophobia in the media (in ‘Isombard’). This involvement of worldwide issues in his music has certainly not ceased, his second full-length release ‘Zeros’ covers just as many weighty topics – religion, the environment, being an outsider and beauty except this time the finished product is less polished, he hasn’t tried as hard to gather people in their masses to support a particular cause.
Rather conveniently, the album lays out a story of impending doom; set in a dystopian world, it’s a place that’s clearly on it’s last legs. On opening track ‘You Better Believe!!!’, an asteroid is making it’s way to Earth and the only thing left to do is fall into the cold embrace of capitalism, he exhales the words ‘I’m off out to buy a bag of Quavers and Nike trainers,’ and this of course is ‘comfort you can feel’.
‘Be an Astronaut’ is very reminiscent of Bowie, it’s a track encapsulated in synthesizers accompanied by heavy guitar hooks, it’s certainly a refreshing break from the indie pop melodies of his previous work. Moving on, the lyrical content of ‘The Key To Life on Earth’ reflects upon duality, humanity, and one’s place in the dynamic scape of human experience. At the heart of The Key To Life On Earth resides a similarly infectious pop beat and tuneful flamboyance, all sweetly packaged up in the otherworldly grandeur of it’s technicolour production.
‘Beautiful Faces’ reaches out to the youth of today, the song tackles how intimidating the modern world can be, beauty, social media and the extreme anxieties that young people face. ‘Daniel You’re Still A Child’ is undoubtedly one of the catchiest tracks on this album, with its colourful concoction of catchy riffs and pulsating bass it tells a story of what it’s like to be lost in some way.
‘Twice Your Size’ details climate change in an interesting way, Mckenna speaks of the sun melting ‘what it can touch’ and the earth changing in such an irreversible way that ‘we must grab our pets and head off out of range’. On ‘Rapture’ he calls out the actions of former England prime minister Margaret Thatcher, stating that her ‘cruel heart navigates the world we live in’, the track features a sprinkling of disco like guitar and the droning of cyborg voices in the intro. On ‘Sagittarius A*’, McKenna sneers at a jet-setting trust fund kid and implies a biblical storm.
Declan is set to tour Zeros across the UK, Ireland & Europe next March/April and you can find tickets here.
Women and non binary artists have been pushed aside and forgotten about on festival lineups since the beginning. With even the biggest festivals in the UK forgetting to make gender diversity their number one priority, this is an ever growing problem within the music industry.
Take the most recent Reading and Leeds festival lineup for example, next year will see the introduction of two main stages and six headline acts instead of the usual three. Sounds decent, right? That is, until you take a closer look and see that there is a VERY clear inequality between the number of male artists versus the number of female and non binary artists featured. Post Malone is set to play the main stage for what will be the third R+L weekend in a row, alongside Liam Gallagher, who is clearly trying to stay relevant despite Oasis’ break up 11 years ago and the release of two extremely mediocre solo albums. Other names set to headline are Catfish & Bottlemen, Queens of the Stone Age, Stormzy and Disclosure. You really cannot help but notice the distinct lack of female and non binary artists, not just in the headline slots but across the board. This is appalling, especially from a festival with such a large following.
It is because of the recent announcements from Reading and Leeds that I have decided to compile a list of women and non binary artists who deserve a spot on EVERY festival lineup whether that’s on a main stage or a smaller stage. Times are changing – there is no longer any need for lineups to be centred around white, cisgender, heterosexual men. Women and non binary people are changing the game for good.
HAIM: 3 piece band made up of sisters Danielle, Este and Alana. Hailing from Los Angeles, the band have released three full length albums since 2013 and played at some of the world’s biggest festivals including Glastonbury and Reading + Leeds. Their newest venture, Women in Music PTIII is pop rock Heaven and you can stream it here.
📷:Rick Kern/WireImage
Wolf Alice: Fronted by lead singer Ellie Rowsell, the band have built themselves a rather large following having released two very successful albums; My Love is Cool in 2015 and Visions of a Life in 2017. They co headlined Reading + Leeds in 2018 but, I’d love to see them back next year!
📷:Paste Magazine
Janelle Monae: With over two million listeners on Spotify and a Grammy nomination under their belt at just 34, it’s a surprise that Monae isn’t already on next year’s R+L lineup. With their music spanning across many different genres including soul, funk, hip hop and new wave – it caters for a lot of festival audiences globally, which is another reason I’m surprised they aren’t featured on festival lineups for next year.
📷: Variety Magazine
WILLOW: Daughter of actors Will Smith & Jada Pinkett, Smith released her first song at just 10 years old. Then in 2015 she released her debut ARDIPITHECUS followed by second album The 1st in 2017 which, The New York Times described as the ‘Soundtrack to adolescence’. I really think WILLOW deserves a headline at, at least one UK festival
📷: Ben Toms for Dazed
In regards to headliners, the list could go on but there are so so many smaller artists that deserve recognition too! Here are some of my favourites:
Dream Wife: The three piece consisting of Icelandic born lead singer Rakel Mjoll, bassist Bella Podpadec and guitarist Alice Go met at university in Brighton and started the band as a university project. Their music tackles issues related to feminism, gender roles, body image and sexual objectification. Their newest album So When You Gonna… is available to stream everywhere now.
📷: Jender Anomie/DIY magazine
Rina Sawayama: Despite only releasing her first full length piece this year, Rina has over a million listeners and her album SAWAYAMA recieved incredible reception from both her audience and critics alike. She confronts issues of identity and conflict through pop anthems with influences of RnB, nu-metal and club beats. You can listen to SAWAYAMA here.
📷: Harry Carr
ArloParks: South London native Anaïs Oluwatoyin Estelle Marinho, known professionally as singer and poet Arlo Parks was signed to Transgressive Records after the release of her debut single ‘Cola’. Since then, she has released two EP’s: Super Sad Generation and Sophie. Even though she is still fairly new to live music, having only played her first proper gig last May at Brighton’s Great Escape festival, she has already made appearances at both Glastonbury and Latitude festivals so she is way more than deserving of a place at Reading & Leeds too.
📷: Charlie Cummings
The Japanese House: The Japanese House is the solo project of London-based singer/songwriter Amber Bain. After signing to Dirty Hit Records in 2015, she released her first two EP’s: Pools to Bathe In and Clean. Then in 2018 after the release of of another two EP’s in 2016 and 2017, Bain teased her debut album Good at Falling with the release of single Lilo. The album arrived in March 2019 and received extremely positive reviews from the likes of NME and Pitchfork.
Sorry: Started by childhood friends Asha Lorenz and Louis O’Bryen, the North London based quartet (Lorenzo and O’Bryen are joined by Lincoln Barrett on drums and Campbell Baum on bass guitar) have a wildly experimental sound with influences of trip-hop, 90’s alt rock and early trap scattered throughout their discography but most prominently on their debut album ‘925’ which was released on Domino Records in March this year. Fingers crossed they get added to at least one festival lineup next year! You can stream their debut, 925 here
📷: Jenn Five/ DIY Magazine
Marika Hackman: Having released a mini album, 4 EP’s and 3 full length albums in the space of 8 years, Hackman is no stranger to the music industry either; she has supported Laura Marling multiple times on tour and played festivals such as Reading and Leeds and Festival Number 6 in the past. Her albums I’m Not Your Man (released 2017) and Any Human Friend (released 2019) have been met with critical acclaim from multiple publications. You can stream Any Human Friend here
📷: Joost Vanderbrug
The Big Moon: The London based quartet made up of Juliette Jackson on lead vocals, Soph Nathan on guitar, Celia Archer on bass and Fern Ford on drums have been credited with breathing new life into the indie genre at a time where guitar based indie music had fallen out of favour. The band have released two albums and their first, Love in the 4th Dimension was nominated for a Mercury Prize in 2017. Album two, Walking Like We Do followed in January 2020 and it is a true masterpiece. I can’t wait to see them go on to bigger and better things next year
📷: The Independent
There are hundreds of artists I could’ve included in this list but these are just a few that stood out to me the most. I have curated a playlist of my favourite songs from each artist and you can find that here.
After the roaring success of their 2018 debut album, Brighton natives Jack Kaye, Angus Taylor, Kristian Smith and Paeris Giles have returned with a brand new genre bending collection of songs under the title: Death of the Party.
With influences hailing from all over, the album opens with explosive track ‘Think’ which, very obviously takes inspiration from 70’s Northern Soul (think The Four Seasons). ‘Make a Sound’ is the first of two accounts of the same house party, this one hailing from front man Jack Kaye. Lyrically thoughtful & featuring a bedroom pop esque guitar line, visions of a carefree yet short lived evening are created.
The Magic Gang go back to their roots on ‘Just a Minute‘, once again writing about the anxieties being in a relationship brings with it except this time with a more realistic representation than that of their debut.
What Have You Got To Lose? Is my personal favourite on this album, with its pulsating bassline – reminiscent of Joy Division, it’s from this point that the album very suddenly delves into darker subject matter. Lyrics ‘Wasting a whole week a way’ are broken up by jarring guitar riffs and make mention of drug treatment for mental health issues.
Title track ‘Death of the Party’ is the second account of a house party, this time by guitarist Kristian Smith. His retelling is that of a more defeatist approach, with his cowboy persona described as the ultimate party-pooper. The song encapsulates the feeling amongst the band members that their cheery youthful years are practically coming to an end.
This sombre attitude doesn’t stay for long, with the band leaping back into action on ‘Take Back The Track’ which sounds like it has been taken from their earlier bodies of work with its happy go lucky upbeat tune, aided by a Nile Rodger’s inspired guitar tone. It’s clear to see why this track was released as a lead single to advertise the album’s release.
‘I Am Sunshine’ has a tinny opening and resolves into a dizzyingly busy second half. This track is the only real fault on an otherwise stunning album.
‘Gonna Bounce Back’ is reminiscent of 80’s new wave, it tells the story of a disheartened but not deterred young artist- perhaps a thinly-veiled metaphor for bandmembers’ struggle for the limelight.
Although a little monotonous in parts, ‘Fail Better’ represents what The Magic Gang do best – easy listening indie rock. ‘The World (Outside My Door)’ is the last track from the main section of the album, which initially speaks of limitless horizons. For a track whose title appears optimistic, the slightly ominous undertone deteriorates into a downright threatening racket which comes to an abrupt end.
The album also features three bonus tracks. The first being ‘Go Moving’, in which the group make a return to their punch pop form. ‘Make Time For Change’ is undoubtedly a track designed to bop your head to as a vibrant bass sound carries the song. Finally, ‘Out of Mind’ features delicate guitar and piano pairing which draws it effortlessly to a close.
The Magic Gang are on tour across the UK and Ireland next March. You can find tickets and stream ‘Death of the Party here:
With this EP being his first proper release since his sophomore album Bloom in 2018, Sivan offers his most daring and personal music to date. With help from producer Oscar Görres, In A Dream shifts between ballad, club beats and driving bass to create an almost hallucinogenic sound that captures the extreme moods that often come after the disintegration of a relationship.
Opening track ‘Take Yourself Home’ was the first release from this EP and the track Troye refers to as the ‘best song he’s ever written’. It’s a song about feeling bored of the life you’ve created for yourself. He sings the lyrics “If I’m gonna die/let me die somewhere pretty” with the same tone of unhappiness as Lana Del Rey except slightly more indistinct. His cool sigh of lyrics livened by gospel cries and a shuffling beat—not too disimilar to that of the tech house genre. It’s a slow, surprising progression from chill pessimism to sweaty abandon; like his past work, it doesn’t start explosively but rewards patience.
‘Easy’ is about begging a lover not to walk away. Sivan sure wasn’t lying when he described the song as ‘sadness, but make it a pop chorus’ on social media. The track he co-wrote with Oscar Görres, who also produced, is a heartbreaking tune, but with a massive chorus. The synth pop production that is used allows the chorus to stand out and is in stark contrast with the actual sad reality of the lyrics. Troye has a great understanding of what sound works for his voice and ‘Easy’ is a perfect example of this.
Track 5, ‘rager teenager’ is a melancholy anthem about running into an ex. As a wistful synth melody reaches a crescendo in this track, it becomes impossible for Sivan to conceal how much he’s missed him: “I just wanna go wild/I just wanna do some shit just to try/In your car tonight/In your bed tonight.” However, his head keeps his heart in check, as he knowingly calls himself a ‘ranger teenager’.
‘Stud’ reflects on body image and the toxic male beauty standards that proliferate in the gay community: “What’s it like to be so big and strong and so buff?/Everything I’m not but could I still be a hunk to you?” Then whizzing synths and pulsing percussion overtake the track and Sivan’s robotically distorted vocal asks a little more confidently: “You’re into this, right?” As the tempo slows, Sivan’s questions seem less like inquiries and more like attempts at convincing himself that his love interest reciprocates his adoration.
Sivan has strayed from his particular strain of synth-pop, aided by Görres’s production but rather than significantly alter or challenge the singer’s previous approach, In a Dream merely embellishes it.
The new video, shared by the band on their YouTube channel last month as a form of promo for their latest album So When You Gonna (released July 3rd on Lucky Number), is very different from their usual enthusiastic, pop punk sound and image. Lead singer Rakel Mjöll when speaking about the song over on her instagram (@rakelmjoll) said that the song was originally a voice memo recorded after a conversation she had with her sister who, at the time was going through a difficult pregnancy that ultimately she didn’t want to follow through with. This conversation happened at the same time last year as the Alabama Abortion Ban and The Human Life Protection Act were put into place, thus becoming a starting point for the band to create something which allowed them to voice their anger at the patriarchy for designing a system in which it owns women’s bodies when sometimes it may not be possible to articulate these feelings properly.
The video itself was created in collaboration with Icelandic director Helga Katrínardóttir (@gunnhildurhelga on Instagram) with ideas springing from the band members themselves.
When discussing the video, the band said that they used water as a metaphor in both the song and video to symbolise both the singular & collective experiences of abortion. They mention how all humans are made up of 75% water, creating the idea that all pain is shared pain.
They then said: “It is our choice to craft the narratives of our own lives and fight the restrictions put on us by a society attempting to control our bodies. It’s feeling all the feelings and knowing that the storm will pass.”
In regards to video setting, there was a vast difference in location with Rakel being filmed in the Icelandic countryside and both Bella & Alice in their South London homes. However, this was in fact purposeful to show both the singular and collective experience of this situation. The interior and exterior shots also show on a drastic level the different ways the band member’s home countries have mobilised in response to the current pandemic and how important it is to function collectively during times of dislocation.
