Taken from this week’s Future Pop mailer. Click here to subscribe.
16-year-old British boy Declan McKenna got the A&R community abuzz recently when his track Brazil caught the attention of the indie blogging scene and the evening show DJs at Radio 1. He won his first official accolade this month when he aced Glastonbury’s Emerging Talent competition. The prize is a slot at Glastonbury and £5,000 from PRSF’s Talent Development Fund. Declan’s sound is interesting, as he represents a new generation that hasn’t grown up with indie music. If indie makes a comeback, it won’t be via older acts who’ve patiently waited in the wings, but kids for whom it seems obscure, alternative and fresh. Brazil has a mildly catchy chorus but overall sounds like an awkward mess to me, just like all those supposed classics by Arctic Monkeys, the Libertines etc, but it's endearing to watch a young lad trying so hard to be cool. That’s probably not the compliment he wants, but it’s the best he’ll get from me I’m afraid!
[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=39r0QFD1oPM]