{"id":2401298,"date":"2026-05-04T11:32:11","date_gmt":"2026-05-04T11:32:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/?p=2401298"},"modified":"2026-05-04T11:32:11","modified_gmt":"2026-05-04T11:32:11","slug":"kneecap-fenian-review-their-new-album-is-terrific-triumphant-yet-tortured-kneecap","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/kneecap-fenian-review-their-new-album-is-terrific-triumphant-yet-tortured-kneecap\/","title":{"rendered":"Kneecap: Fenian review \u2013 their new album is terrific, triumphant yet tortured | Kneecap"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>\n

\n

F<\/span>ive tracks into Fenian, the listener is confronted by the sound of rapper M\u00f3gla\u00ed Bap expressing a desire to go and live off-grid outside a small village in County Meath. He does this in characteristic style \u2013 prefaced with the line \u201crun along, fuck\u2019s sake, I\u2019m sick of you cunts\u201d \u2013 but still, it comes as a surprise. After all, the tales of drugged-out madness on Kneecap\u2019s previous album, 2024\u2019s Fine Art<\/a>, took place in an exclusively urban environment: at one juncture M\u00f3gla\u00ed Bap\u2019s bandmate Mo Chara claimed that his preferred milieu was \u201cthe snug of a dimly-lit, shit, run-down pub\u201d, presumably one like the lairy Belfast boozer in which much of the album was set. Nothing about Kneecap has given the impression of a band given to wistfully pining after a simple bucolic life.<\/p>\n

<\/svg><\/span>The artwork for Fenian<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

And yet, who can blame him for wanting to switch off and get away from it all? The two years since Fine Art\u2019s release have been tumultuous for the Irish rave-rap trio, and it\u2019s difficult to discern how much their soaring profile has to do with their music. Fine Art was warmly received \u2013 it was potent, funny and original \u2013 but quickly drowned out by the din of controversy that began when Mo Chara was alleged to have displayed a Hezbollah flag on stage at a London gig in November 2024. He was later charged with terror offences, which he denied \u2013 Kneecap said they have never supported Hezbollah and \u201ccondemn all attacks on civilians, always\u201d \u2013 and the case was ultimately thrown out of court. In the interim, there were cancelled gigs and tours, a ban from entering Canada<\/a> and Hungary<\/a> (decisions Kneecap strongly opposed), and calls from both Keir Starmer and Kemi Badenoch<\/a> for Kneecap\u2019s 2025 Glastonbury set to be dropped. Badenoch had already quarrelled with them over their lurid republicanism when she was business secretary, trying to cancel a grant they\u2019d been given \u2013 and Kneecap prevailed in that case, too<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cPR done on our behalf \u2013 as soon as you\u2019re outraged we\u2019ve won,\u201d snaps M\u00f3gla\u00ed Bap on a track from Fenian called Big Bad Mo, but it isn\u2019t quite as straightforward as that. Kneecap<\/a> now find themselves more talked-about than listened to \u2013 far more people have an opinion about them than have ever heard their music \u2013 which is an unsettling and sometimes destructive place for an artist to be.<\/p>\n

You get a sense from Fenian that Kneecap might be aware of this, although the most immediately striking thing about the album is its screw-you triumphalism. It makes for hugely entertaining listening, bolstered by Mo Chara and M\u00f3gla\u00ed Bap\u2019s skilful bilingual delivery and a fantastic musical backing courtesy of the band\u2019s beat-maker DJ Pr\u00f3va\u00ed and producer Dan Carey. Carnival\u2019s ominous, Massive Attack-y atmospherics open with a re-creation of Mo Chara\u2019s trial and ends with the line \u201chistory will remember you pieces of shit and you\u2019ll never be forgiven\u201d; Smugglers & Scholars crows \u201cI\u2019ll never learn my lesson, always the government\u2019s obsession\u201d over growling trap beats, while Liars Tale \u2013 a gripping splurge of stabbing rave synths, pounding house kick drums and a distorted bassline that quotes T Rex\u2019s Children of the Revolution \u2013 decries Keir Starmer as \u201ca cunt\u201d. The track Palestine, meanwhile, conflates west Belfast with the West Bank, stirs in a guest appearance from Ramallah-based rapper Fawzi and concludes \u201cwe won\u2019t stop until everyone is free\u201d.<\/p>\n

\n
\n