What Happened to the Beach? is by far Declan McKenna's most original, daring, and colorful work yet. The album sounds like its cover: it's cheeky, fun, quirky, sunny, and full of wonder.
Declan McKenna is a young lad ripe at the age of 25 from London, UK. He's only a year younger than me but dang... McKenna has accomplished a lot so far in his short lived career. He's released two records to acclaim, What Do You Think About the Car? and Zeros, has a large fanbase within his home country, and has garnered huge acclaim in 2016 thanks to his early hit "Brazil," a sharp protest anthem about the inequalities and corruption about the massive FIFA sports organization and the World Cup. To be honest... I don't know much about Declan McKenna. Like... at all really. Aside from his breakout hit "Brazil," which I've heard in passing when it initially became popular overseas, I don't know much about him or his music or what he's all about. So when I saw the announcement of his upcoming third studio album and heard some of the lead singles, I was quite intrigued.
When listening to this record I got curious and listened to some of his other past songs and I'm quite impressed by his trajectory towards this new record. I wasn't exactly getting a lot of originality or personality with his past performances, instrumentation, or production choices despite his sharp mature sense of songwriting. The songs and overall sound on What Happened to the Beach? are remarkably more original and have way more experimentation and playfulness this time around. Instead of the political themes of his past work, which were impressively well executed for such a young lad by the way, he decided to turn that down a bit and instead turn up the playfulness and freeform in his creativity. There's more adventurous sounds of synth pop, anthemic rock, indie pop, electro pop, acoustic, and psychedelia. The album sounds very colorful, vibrant, and full of personality. Each track in the track listing stands out in its own unique way, while everything comes together in one neat package. The album sounds like its cover (which is excellent by the way): it's cheeky, fun, quirky, sunny, and full of wonder.
"WOBBLE" is the perfect introduction to the album. It features some psychedelic and altered lead vocals, acoustic guitar, buzzing synths, and even some lush strings towards the end. There's a sharp memorable hook and it's a sweet intro. "Elevator Hum" has quickly become my favorite on the album. It's a dreamy, beautiful, and sweet tune that's as carefree as staring at the clouds. The song's chorus is so sticky and memorable and I love the bouncing bass that brightens up once the song kicks in more. I originally wrote off "I Write the News" as simply a roughly recorded leftover that either shouldn't have been included on the album or should've spent more time being baked properly before finishing. It starts out as what sounds like a roughly put together acoustic demo but then picks up into a quirky head nodding tune. Over time, it's grown on me despite my criticisms. I still think it's half-baked, undercooked, and a little too awkwardly put together but I still think it's a fun tune in the track listing. "Sympathy," one of the lead singles, is indeed a bop. Its cutesy charm really comes from the horns and marching band like percussion backing the strongly put together pop tune. It definitely has some of McKenna's best hooks and songwriting to date. Another stunner is "Mulholland's Dinner and Wine," which is heavy on the synths and grooves. It's pretty undeniable and you got to dance to it whenever it's on. A huge album highlight, it's also one of his best arranged songs to date.
"Breath of Light" is indeed a breather in the track list. It's quite spacey and heavy on the acid trip-like psychedelic electro pop and synthesizers. "Nothing Works" is another fantastic single that's quite fast paced, giddy, and charming. It's instantly gratifying and super sticky just like the other singles. "The Phantom Buzz" has a strong guitar wielding performance that's quite epic and anthemic and is a solid tune despite its short abrupt length. "Honest Test" is a solid cool down that emphasizes on McKenna's falsetto vocals and spacey synth pop, reminiscent of early MGMT or mid-era Beck. "Mezzanine" is a steady acoustic tune that gallops along with a nice groove and vocal, featuring some great horn arrangements. "It's an Act" is a ballad that closes the album in a cinematic way and acts like a sweet, innocent lullaby.
All in all, I'm pretty surprised and impressed with What Happened to the Beach? It's by far Declan McKenna's most original, daring, and colorful work yet. Initially going into this, I certainly didn't know what to expect but these songs are not only instant and sticky but they are unique and thrilling with his use of psych pop, acoustics, synths, and effects. I'm surprised and impressed at his sharp transition from his previous albums to this new one, that this is his third record and that he's only 25 years old. I'm happy to put McKenna on my radar and see what else he does in the future. It's for sure one of the best albums I've heard so far in 2024 and I'll definitely be spinning it all year.
My Rating: 8 / 10
Favorite Songs: "Elevator Hum," "Mulholland's Dinner and Wine," "Sympathy," "Nothing Works," "WOBBLE," "The Phantom Buzz"