Cheshunt, Hertfordshire to Los Angeles is a fair trek. The East Sussex coast remains an ocean from LA. But Declan sought change. What Happened to the Beach? finds McKenna shedding a metaphorical skin. Almost as soon as he landed in California, Declan got to work with producer Gianluca Buccellati, perhaps best known for his work with Arlo Parks and Lana Del Rey, on his album What Happened to the Beach?. If his previous works were that of a young musician trying to find his place in the world, his latest is a musician taking heed of his own experience trusting his instincts. It’s a nimble record, written and recorded under the California sun with playful grooves and loose structures. “Any time I tried to be too serious the songs would get too heavy and the thing I was trying to get at, this idea of a release, was weighed down,” he says. “These songs sound a lot like the music I listen to,” McKenna says about the new tunes, citing St. Vincent and Unknown Mortal Orchestra hypnotic and spacey energy as influences. What Happened to the Beach? is an album full of tone and colour. Musically, it’s a bit weirder and wonky, and the sound of a songwriter enjoying himself and gleefully defying expectations. “In the past few years there has been a bit of weight behind making music,” he says. “I wanted to open up and not worry about things so much. I was putting a lot of pressure on myself in the past when I just needed to drop the intensity a bit and have some fun.”

Declan McKenna, Max Pope

Max Pope

Going to Declan McKenna, Max Pope?