Kneecap announce debut album ‘Fine Art’

Kneecap have just announced their debut album ‘Fine Art’, set to land on Heavenly Recordings on June 14.

The Belfast-based Irish rap trio have enlisted Toddla T to produce the record, which is claimed to be packed with English and Irish satire and “socially conscious lyrics."

Consisting of 12 tracks, the debut album from Mo Chara, Móglaí Bap, and DJ Próvaí is set to be a “thought-provoking” project.

The first single from the record, ‘Sick In The Head’ is described as being a result of the three "hitting a wall" creatively.

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Talking about the track, Kneecap shared: "When working on the album we had periods of great productivity but also periods with a total lack of anything creatively. Towards the end of the recording we hit a proper wall and this is the result.

“Our mental health was being tested and we said f*ck it we’re doomed to mental torture we want to have some money to get through it. We’ve had enough of it while being broke round Belfast."

Working with producer Toddla T began in the summer of 2023 when Kneecap decided to “scrap” all their original work for the album and create an imaginary community pub in West Belfast named The Rutz.

Mo Chara shares: “T’s idea was to tell the story of Kneecap. So the record was conceived as the listener stepping into Kneecap’s world. That’s where the idea came to set whole thing in a pub."

"You walk into a pub at the start, there’s someone offering you a drink, there’s a singsong… really, it’s us taking you by the hand and leading you into our world.”

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Featuring on the upcoming album will be vocals from Lankum’s Radie Peat, Grian Chatten of Fontaines D.C. and Jelani Blackman.

Recently, the group have accused the UK government of attempting to “silence” them after their arts council funding application was last-minute revoked.

Kneecap claim that their 2019 Farewell to the Union tour poster “pissed off the Tories.”

Pre-order Kneecap’s debut album ‘Fine Art’ here and listen to their new single below.

Becky Buckle is Mixmag's Multimedia Editor, follow her on Twitter