Audio File: Declan McKenna establishes a new sound with “What Happened To The Beach?”
Written by Anna Porter. Graphic by Anna Porter.
On February 9th, British indie rock musician Declan McKenna released his third album titled “What Happened To The Beach?” Since his debut in 2017, McKenna has gained some internet traction with his song “Brazil,” as it became popularized as an aesthetic TikTok song, and more recently, his cover of ABBA’s “Slipping Through My Fingers” which did more numbers and was even mistaken by many as an AI Paul McCartney cover.
With “What Happened To The Beach,” McKenna strays from his sound established in his first two albums, which mainly revolved around both guitar-centered indie and Bowie-inspired glam rock. As a fan of Declan Mckenna since 2020 (when his last album was released), I highly anticipated his new project ever since it was announced late last year. However, many of the lead singles such as “Sympathy” and “Elevator Hum” caught me off guard, as they were very different from the music I was used to from McKenna. With these songs, he shifts to a different, more unique approach to production, which people compare to the Beatles’ White Album because of its playful and experimental noises. Once the full album was released, it was easier to see how these songs cohesively fit into the new direction Declan McKenna is taking.
The album opens with “WOBBLE,” a fun tune with lyrics like “We wobble to the beach ‘cause life’s really changing,” and “What happened to the beach? Looks like it’s changing.” These lyrics may tie into McKenna’s common writing theme of climate change, and since this album was written during the quarantine years, he could also be exploring the idea of getting back to nature while away from a typical schedule, which many of us experienced during those years.
“I Write The News,” begins with a folky style, and McKenna sings the first few verses with a raw guitar sound before a funky drum beat and bassline kick in a minute later. In a Spotify-exclusive video snippet, McKenna explains that this song is about how it feels like everyone on the internet argues with different facts, and in reality, no one is right. This lyrical content feels very on-brand with his discography, where he often sings about politics and problems in today’s world in songs like “Isombard” and “The Kids Don’t Wanna Come Home.”
After some deeper lyrical content, the album shifts to a light and airy feel with the song “Mulholland’s Dinner and Wine.” This track is one of the catchiest songs on the album with groovy instrumentation that feels like driving to the beach during the summer. In an interview with Tape Notes podcast, McKenna talks about his new approach to production after getting a piece of advice, “If everything’s weird, then nothing’s weird.” This has helped him to deliberately choose specific instruments or make sonic choices that add weird elements to the song without muddying up the entire production of the song. I can definitely see this throughout the album, as certain things stick out in songs like “Mulholland’s Dinner and Wine,” such as the echoey vocal style in the chorus.
The peak of sonic “weirdness” takes place in “Breath of Light,” where McKenna goes completely out of the box, but he brings the album back to a more grounded state in the second half. Some of my stand-outs are on the latter half of the album, especially the songs “The Phantom Buzz (Kick In)” and “Mezzanine.” I think the reason these songs connected to me was because I could truly hear the tried and true Declan McKenna sound in both of them. “The Phantom Buzz” includes a spacey electric guitar line similar to what can be found in McKenna’s album “Zeros,” and “Mezzanine,” is just an overall fresh-feeling track with an exceptionally catchy bridge. The warm horns in this song make me wish this album was released closer to summer. The album ends with “It’s An Act,” a magnificent closer that flows into “4 More Years,” which is luckily about the World Cup, not the amount of time until McKenna’s next album.
McKenna’s third installment to his discography solidified the fact that you never know what he’ll do next. In each of his albums, he explores a variety of sounds, but after examining the lyrical content of each one you can find the themes that McKenna always enjoys writing about, hoping he can add a little more clarity to the sometimes confusing world we live in. His versatility can be a blessing and a curse– fans may not always like what he puts out, but I believe that there’s something for everyone in Declan McKenna’s music, and I’m looking forward to hearing what comes next as he continues his musical journey.
A full-time Graphic Design major/ Advertising & Branding minor and part-time music enthusiast, Anna Porter brings her love of art and design to SCAD District as the Creative Director. Anna leads the creative team in all things visual, from website design to publication design. Her writings can be found in the “Audio File,” District’s weekly music review column where Anna provides music updates and recommendations. If Anna is not designing or listening to music (rare,) you will probably find her in the other room making a cup of tea.
