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.