Declan McKenna has opened up about the inspiration behind his new album, and likened it to Paul McCartney’s LP ‘Ram’.
- READ MORE: Declan McKenna – ‘What Happened To The Beach?’ review: an exercise in pure, creative optimism
The moment took place during a new interview with NME, which saw the London-born singer-songwriter open up about his latest LP ‘What Happened To The Beach?’.
In the interview, McKenna told NME’s Sophie Williams about how he approached the songwriting on the album in a different way to that of its predecessor, 2020’s ‘Zeros’ – no longer feeling the need to compete with his previous releases.
He also explained how he drew inspiration from one of Paul McCartney’s lesser known albums – 1971’s ‘Ram’, which he released with his wife Linda.
“Absolutely. They share a similar intimacy,” he responded when asked if the LP had an impact on ‘What Happened To The Beach?’. “On ‘Ram’, Paul really dived into playing around with different characters. He and that album are such a big influence on me because on tracks like ‘Admiral Halsey’, he goes in on these wild vocal takes – and I feel like my album has elements of that too.”
He continued: “I feel like they were recorded in similar ways too: building things up bit by bit to create weird soundscapes. Some people hated ‘Ram’ at first… so I am looking forward to [my new album] being out!”
Elsewhere in the NME interview, the 25-year-old artist also elaborated on his love for the rock veteran and Beatles legend – naming the Fab Four as the artist he would like to see perform as a virtual hologram, similar to that of ABBA Voyage.
“Could you imagine? It would be sick! They could play anything,” he explained. “That’s what I really loved about Paul McCartney’s [2022] Glastonbury set: he played things we didn’t expect, like ‘Being For The Benefit Of Mr Kite’, which I was just not expecting at all – never in my life did I think I would hear that song live.
“That’s the kind of stuff I would like to hear. But to me, all Beatles songs are hits – there’s no filler really.”
Arriving last Friday (February 9), McKenna’s third studio album was given a glowing four-star review by NME, who praised the artist for taking a new, inward approach to the tracks, rather than trying to appeal to the masses.
“He battles with the frustrations of attempting to grow as an artist amid a system that would rather him endlessly attempt to recreate the causes of his early success,” it read. “On ‘What Happened To The Beach?’, perfectionism is released to make space to revel in creativity, resulting in a truly joyful effort… He’s no longer trying to speak for a generation – just for himself.”
In other Declan McKenna news, the British singer-songwriter is set to make a number of UK festival appearances over the summer, including performances at Boardmasters and Truck Festival.
The post Declan McKenna says new album shares “a similar intimacy” to Paul McCartney’s ‘Ram’ appeared first on NME.
