Declan McKenna, a notable name in the indie-pop world, recently released a new single partnered with promises of an album releasing on February 9, 2024, titled What Happened To The Beach?

McKenna has been making music since 2015, though he is most well known for his song “Brazil” which went viral on the social media platform TikTok roughly around 2020. The song now has over 400 million streams on Spotify and McKenna has accumulated over 5 million monthly listeners, truly making a name for himself in the indie music scene.

This latest single, “Nothing Works,” tackles the struggle of self-doubt in an upbeat manner, featuring a heavy driving drumbeat and catchy chorus. In his Spotify bio McKenna describes the song as a “euphoric tune, [and] at its core it’s a celebration of being true to yourself.” The song proves to be a bit self-referential, as McKenna sings “you tell me I don't relate to the kids no more, now, I feel like I'm letting them down.” This could be a reference to tracks like “The Kids Don’t Want To Come Home” and others off of his debut album, which tackles a lot of topics of youth and growing up, though McKenna may no longer see himself as the voice of a younger generation as he gets older. The song feature the chorus “I feel wrong, I feel rehearsed I try to fix myself but nothing works, I sing the song and you didn't like the words.” McKenna emphasizes the idea that he may never fit everyone's expectations of him, something that is probably common among artists who have one major hit that they are known for, but this doesn’t bring him down from making music that his true fans will love and that he is proud of.

As someone who was mainly a Declan McKenna fan after the release of his debut album What Do You Think About The Car? in 2017, I’m excited to see if this new album is going to feature any songs similar to his original style alongside this newer, equally impressive style. I had the opportunity to see Declan live this past summer and it was truly an incredible experience, and I would recommend it to anyone, even if you are only a fan of his hits like “Brazil” and “Why Do You Feel So Down?”

McKenna will be playing some shows throughout January leading up the release of What Happened To The Beach? See if he’s coming to your city and keep up with other updates on his website: https://www.declanmckenna.net/