Since dropping ‘Brazil’, a protest song to criticise FIFA over the 2014 World Cup held in poverty-stricken São Paulo, platinum-selling British singer Declan McKenna has had nothing short of a meteoric rise. He has toured and headlined shows worldwide, and is now set to strum his way Down Under in 2024, as part of his appearance at Heaps Good festival.
After winning the Glastonbury Festival Emerging Talent Competition in 2015, McKenna self-released ‘Brazil’, which became an instant global hit (McKenna was still in school at the time). Since then, he has released smash hits like ‘British Bombs’, ‘The Key to Life on Earth’ and the recently-released ‘Sympathy’ and ‘Nothing Works.’
Still in his early 20s, McKenna has announced a more personal than political era as a songwriter with What Happened to the Beach? Set to be “weird and wonky and full of tone and colour”, McKenna produced the album with Ginaluca Buccellati, whose previous projects include the likes of Arlo Parks and Lana Del Rey.
“If every song features a lyrical statement, then it loses some of its impact, too. I haven’t let go of that aspect of myself, but I don’t want to live out that style forever,” McKenna said.
McKenna also features on the Heaps Good line-up alongside Flume, Foals, the Avalanches, Holly Humberstone and more.
Declan McKenna is performing at the Forum on January 5, 2024. Tickets are on sale to the general public at 9am local time on Friday, October 20. The Live Nation presale will commence on the day prior on Thursday, October 19.
