“Great British bombs in the Yemen,” Declan McKenna sings on his brand new single, out this evening on Columbia Records. ‘British Bombs’ is a rougher and readier version of McKenna than we've ever heard before, with plenty of sub-cultural influences disrupting his ordinarily clean-cut indie pop.
It’s been two whole years since McKenna’s well-reviewed debut album What Do You Think About The Car?, and in that time, Declan has clearly grown more into his political leanings, with ‘British Bombs’ a confident statement of intent. Hear it below:
Of the new record, McKenna said: “'British Bombs' is a tune I wrote about the hypocrisy of the British arms trade and the weapons convention in London…I wanted to write a song that was outright against war, in any form."
“Not only do we still engage in wars far away from our homes, which settle nothing and fuel extremism…we sell weapons to other countries full well knowing where they end up,” he added.
A persistent electronic backdrop propels McKenna’s politically-minded lyrics forwards on a more unhinged version of his previous indie efforts. ‘British Bombs’ smacks of a more post-punk tune, though with plenty of the pop sensibilities of old to keep it from falling too far into alternative territory.
