It must be exhausting to be a member of Belfast hip-hop crew, Kneecap. Having already recorded a debut album and fistful of fine singles like “H.O.O.D.” and “Get Your Brits Out” in the late 2010s, during the last couple of years they’ve participated in a semi-autobiographical film and its soundtrack, put out the splendid Fine Art, toured relentlessly and then had to endure the circus of being named pop’s latest bogymen because of their support for the Palestinian people.
Not ones to retreat into moneyed exile, however, their new album tries to make sense of the situation with a barrel load of electro-powered tunes soaked in acid house, trip hop, dubstep and rap. So, it comes as little surprise that their legal and media hassles from pearl-clutching, pro-Zionist opportunists feature strongly on Fenian. Indeed, “Carnival” explicitly pushes back on the accusations they faced in the courts of supporting terrorism. While the trippy “Palestine” makes it clear that the band have no intention of backing down from their opposition to Israel’s genocidal campaign and the punk-hop “Liars Tale” puts the boot into Keir Starmer for his spinelessness over the whole incident.
Rather closer to home, Mo Chara, Mόglai Bap and DJ Prόvai also have plenty to say about the situation in Northern Ireland on the bouncy title track, with its “The Real Slim Shady” vibes, the blistering “An Ra” and “Occupied 6” – all of which make it clear that the Troubles aren’t some long forgotten historical event.
Fenian is far from being a worthy political diatribe though, as there’s plenty of wild hedonism in there too. “Headcase” and “Big Bad Mo” are both absolutely battering with their Ritalin-speed beats and rapping, while the woozy “Cocaine Hill” tackles the inevitable next day come-down. However, not once does Kneecap’s new album slip into vacuous, soulless nonsense and still has plenty to say even when it’s not tackling contentious issues – and that’s something that is often shockingly missing in these days of media-trained, musical careerists.
