Kneecap - Fenian

Kneecap's rapid and mammoth rise has been well documented, with the rap group from the North of Ireland smashing into the mainstream consciousness off the back of controversy surrounding their support for Palestine and condemnation of the genocide being committed by Israel. A well-received feature film didn't hurt either, and by the end of their last tour, they were headlining Wembley Arena - not bad for a group with only one album out.

There was, though, a sense that the ticket sales were as much a show of support for the group's politics as for their music. For reasons outside of Kneecap's control, debut album 'Fine Art' became more of a backdrop to the swirling culture war around the group than a collection of songs which could be enjoyed on their own merit.

With the dust settling on their legal issues (a case brought by the UK Government against the group's Mo Chara was thrown out by the judge) and a mammoth headline show at Crystal Palace Park coming up in 2026, 'Fenian' is the marker of a new chapter for Kneecap and sees them reasserting themselves as a musical force to be reckoned with.

References to these events provide fodder for much of the material on the album, notably 'Carnival's focus on the court case and 'Palestine's incendiary expression of solidarity with the Palestinian people, complete with a guest verse from Palestinian rapper Fawzi. Irish independence and drug-taking, the twin pillars of Kneecap's early output, are also here in spades, with 'Smugglers and Scholars' making reference to historic American aid in the Easter Rising of 1916, while 'Cocaine Hill' focuses on drug-induced insomnia. Closing track 'Irish Goodbye' bucks this trend and points towards a group who are growing in lyrical confidence, being a vulnerable and surprisingly touching exploration of love and grief.

The instrumentals on 'Fenian' are a marked departure from the dubstep-laced sledgehammer of much of 'Fine Art', flitting between genres across its runtime. Kneecap themselves seem just as happy rapping over acid house as over classic 00s hip-hop, with the result being only the second album we know of to turn detailed takedowns of UK colonialism into rave-rap bangers.

Kneecap remain an acquired taste, and anybody who hasn't enjoyed their music thus far isn't likely to find themselves converted by 'Fenian'. There is real development here, though, with the group increasingly adept at weaving political and social commentary through their songs as well as their public personas - and all without forgetting that music needs to be enjoyable to listen to, no matter what issues it's discussing.