Declan McKenna recently performed a live session from home which featured two tracks from his new album ‘Zeros,’ for the NME Home Sessions. Uploaded to YouTube on the 29th of September, the video has 5,171 views and lots of positive feedback from fans. The video appears to have been recorded from McKenna’s own home and features just himself with a bassist/keyboardist and a drum machine controlled by his foot while singing and playing guitar.
The transition from ‘Twice Your Size,’ into ‘Rapture,’ in this NME Home Session is so smooth that it really confirms McKenna’s ‘Zeros,’ as a concept album. It is clear that the musical progression of the album has been clearly thought out as the two songs, which neighbour each-other on the album, are able to flow neatly from one into the next without any need to pause or break in between. This is the sign of really high quality songwriting and a conceptual consistency with continues throughout the album which can easily be experienced in one continuous sitting.
The release of this video is likely an effort at album promotion and an effort to provide a live performance amongst the current coronavirus restrictions like the rule of six which makes live music a very difficult matter indeed. Assuming restrictions are able to be eased in the coming months following Christmas, this session serves as a teaser for what we might be able to expect from McKenna at his out-store events for Resident Records in Brighton which is set to go ahead on the 16th of February next year.
NME describes ‘Zeros,’ as ‘a glam rock spectacle,’ and cites McKenna’s influences as including ‘David Bowie and T-Rex.’ The album features many of the science fiction themes which were popular with such artists as well as the visual aspects of performance which were important during this era. Despite such uncertain times, Declan McKenna has shown himself as being able to adapt to the circumstances and it is a sign of real talent and determination for an album to be released to such high acclaim and promoted during a national crisis.
Other promotional activities which Declan McKenna has been taking part in since the release of his second album, with conventional touring off the cards, include a television appearance on ‘Later with Jools Holland,’ where he performed a ‘mesmerising,’ version of ‘Be an Astronaut,’ in studio. This performance was a more stripped back version of when he performed the same song for ‘The Late Late Show with James Corden,’ in August this year before the album’s release.
A trend is emerging in McKenna’s public appearances of performing heavily stripped back, acoustic-style versions of his recent album which is heavy and rich in production values and instrumentation. Perhaps this is to suit the more intimate venues and the transition into the colder seasons which demand a more cosy approach than required the big and bold feelings of summer. Needless to say, Declan McKenna is still one to watch even as we move towards Christmas.
