Declan McKenna

Sixteen years old at the time of his 2015 breakthrough, Declan McKenna was perhaps the first artist in pop history whose first two hits were on the respective subjects of football and transgenderism. A native of Cheshunt, Hertfordshire, McKenna had no musical career before 2015, when he entered the Glastonbury Festival's Emerging Talent Competition. The song he submitted, "Brazil" was an indictment of corruption in professional sports-specifically, of Brazil winning the World Cup amid a corruption scandal, without the country's widespread poverty being addressed. Praised for its lyrical depth as well as its Britpop hook, the song not only brought McKenna instant pop stardom and a Glastonbury slot, it also made him a spokesman as the UK media reported on the corruption. He got a major-label deal with Columbia soon afterwards. Despite the lyric's Euro-centric slant, the song hit #16 on Billboard magazine's alternative chart, and became McKenna's calling card as he toured the U.S. for the first time in 2016, appearing at South by Southwest and on Conan O'Brien's TV show. Spring 2016 brought his second single "Paracetamol," inspired by the death of transgendered Ohio teenager Leelah Alcorn. Working with director Matt Lambert, McKenna made a video that included an assortment of East London teenagers; he explained that he wanted to make an inclusive and encouraging video rather than a tragic one. Two further singles took on equally weighty topics: "Bethlehem" (which decries the role of organized religion in war and bigotry) and "Isombard" (which he explained to a UK interviewer "is basically about this right wing Fox News-type TV presenter trying to justify things like police brutality and xenophobia"). The latter tune featured his fullest production yet, with dance-friendly backbeat and synth hook; the run of singles positioned him more as a serious songwriter than a teen pop sensation. During 2016 McKenna worked on his first album with producer James Ford (Arctic Monkeys, Florence & the Machine), set for a spring 2017 release.