By Tom Owen
With 2016 over, we look ahead to what musical talent 2017 can offer, and with the masses of acts out there in the industry there is plenty for us to get excited about. Throughout January, ICM will be highlighting one new band each day and showing just why they should be on your music radar. Our 12th act is Declan McKenna.
Declan McKenna’s career was kick-started by winning Glastonbury’s ‘Emerging Talent Competition’ back in 2015. After a pretty successful 2015, 2016 took him one step further.
2016 gave us his singles ‘Bethlehem’ and ‘Isombard’, two more songs to add to the 18-year old’s plethora of lyrically powerful songs that challenge taboo subjects. ‘Bethlehem’ tackles the idea of religious discourse whilst ‘Isombard’, a song that made it onto the FIFA 17 game soundtrack, regards right-wing news outlets justifying police brutality. 2016 also provided Declan McKenna a performance of his single ‘Brazil’ on American chat show ‘Conan’, as well as numerous festival performances, headline shows and tours across the U.K and America.
With 2016 now a thing of the past, Declan McKenna is sure to build on the progress of last year. His first single of 2017 ‘The Kids Don’t Want To Come Home’ deals with assumptions of the younger generation and has an anthemic feel to it. Another U.K tour is also scheduled to start at the end of this month, with 3 separate live dates to follow that in March.
More exciting news is that an album can’t be too far away either. His collaboration with producer James Ford (Foals, Klaxons, Arctic Monkeys) tells us that it’s already well underway, with a rumoured target release of May this year.
A teenage songwriter who knows how to combine crisp, melodic guitar riffs with lyrics that, unlike most young songwriters aren’t about emotions or standard teenage debauchery, is one of the main reasons why Declan McKenna is bound to have a successful 2017. A talent as unique as this is due to blossom and this could very well be the year for it to happen.
We will be announcing a new band every day throughout the entirety of January and the ICM long list will be announced on February 1st.
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