Though some in the music industry, festivals, and politicians (backed by corporate greed and cowards) were against Kneecap last year because they publicly sided with Palestine and condemned the Gaza genocide, which led to them being banned from playing in many countries, including Canada, the Irish hip-hop trio has not broken. Not even close. The Irish hip hop trio, made up of MCs Mo Chara, Móglaí Bap, and DJ Próvaí is back and angry as ever with FENIAN.
No one sounds like Kneecap, based on their mix of razor-sharp Irish verse and English and the boys take this to a blistering level on FENIAN. Bursting through the void with illuminated revery, it opens with “Éire go Deo” — a gorgeous, hypnotic near-spoken-word piece, set behind a wavey, pulsing beat and ethereal female vocals repeating “Ireland Forever” throughout, almost chant-like. It sounds like a ghost speaking through a radio buried in a bog. Then “Smugglers & Scholars” kicks the door off its hinges. Heavy, ominous, industrial hip-hop beats replicate the sound of guns and police sirens, all held together by a dirty bass riff and the boys’ intense vocals. You feel it in your sternum.
Never shying away from their beliefs and calling out bullshit, “Palestine” features Palestinian rapper Fawzi and fills the void. “Liars’ Tale” continues to lead the charge, musically crashing through as an electro fucked dance house track, with a verse like “Fuck Keir Starmer, Netanyahu’s Bitch and genocide farmer.” FENIAN is a bolder, darker, funnier take than anything Kneecap has attempted, filled with dancy EDM bangers and angry and outwardly political hardcore hip-hop. It snarls like a dog you can’t escape. It dances at its own funeral and then refuses to die. It may be one of the most important, contextual era albums that has come out in the last 10 years.
