For several years, “What Do You Think About the Car?” by Declan McKenna was my favorite album of all time. So, in September of 2020, when he released his sophomore album, “Zeros” I was nervous to listen, and put it off an entire month. I wrote a song-by-song review in my notes app as I listened, but I’ll spare you that and share my overall takeaways:
“Okay so overall, a good album. Definitely more experimental with instruments and stuff, but the songs mostly follow the same layout where it starts off kinda normal and then by the end it’s either really instrument heavy/ or he’s screaming or both; which is fine but it kind of makes it sorta predictable. I'm also not a huge fan of releasing SO many singles before the album’s out but that’s just me. He definitely chose a PERFECT opener and closer. The songs definitely are all good on their own and I know I said they’re kind of repetitive but it doesn’t feel as cohesive as his first album was. Honestly, I think it’s a case of sophomore album syndrome (where the second album an artist puts out just doesn’t compare to the first). Also, none of the themes of the songs stuck out to me that much, but that could just be because I'm listening to it in a car with headphones turned all the way up as my dad blasts music on the radio so I couldn't hear the lyrics that well. this all sounds super negative but overall it’s a good album and definitely worth the listen.” — October 11, 2020
The following are my thoughts on this album one year later. I definitely appreciate this album a lot more for what it is now; I was expecting a part two to his first album and this wasn’t that, but it’s still a good album. However, some of what I said stands true. This album is ten songs long, but four of the songs were singles, that is entirely too many. Releasing 40% of the album months before the rest of it comes out is just not my preference as a listener.
My favorites on my first listen were “You Better Believe!!!” and “Emily,” but nowadays I’m more partial toward “Twice Your Size” and “Sagittarius A*.”
Overall, it’s solid indie-pop, and I’m glad I gave it a chance.
Rating: 8/10
