Kneecap have scored the highest UK chart position for an Irish language album with their new album ’Fenian’ and will donatesales profits to charity.
The West Belfast band’s second studio album was released on May 1, the follow-up to their celebrated debut ‘Fine Art’, and it features collaborations withKae Tempest, Radie Peat and Fawzi.
On its first week of release, ‘Fenian’ has landed at Number Two on the UK Albums Chart, far outstripping the Number 42 that ‘Fine Art’ achieved in 2024, officially making it the highest-charting Irish language album release in UK chart history.
It was only kept off the top spot by ‘The Essential Michael Jackson’,the 2005 compilation that is now riding high as the result of the new big-screen biopicMichael. It last topped the chart in 2009 following Jackson’s death.
Elsewhere in the chart,Melanie Csecured her highest ever solo album placing, and the highest for anySpice Girls solo record, with ‘Sweat’ reaching Number Three, while Kacey Musgraves’ ‘Middle Of Nowhere’ landed at Number Seven.
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Writing on Instagram, Kneecap have said that they “have decided to give all our earnings from these sales away to threeorganisations”,namelyThe Palestine Solidarity Campaign in London, as well as the two Belfast-basedIrish communitygroupsGlór na Móna and Cultúrlann McAdam ÓFiaich.
The ‘Fenian’ albumtitle, theband haveexplained, is “inspired by, and proudly named [after] warriors in Irish folklore” which was later used as a derogatory term for the Irish. “Now we’re using it to name everyone speaking truth to power,” they said, announcing the record at the start of the year.
The albumwas given afour-and-a-half-star review fromNME, which read: “Put all the rage-bait headlines aside and whatyou’releft with is a solid,progressiveand fearless album from a group that could just as easily be dicking around instead of making music that matters. In that sense at least, their day has come.”
Their album also came following charges against Mo Chara (real name Liam Óg Ó hAnnaidh) being thrown out. The rapper was charged for allegedly displaying the flag of Hezbollah – a proscribed terrorist organisation– and shouting “Up Hamas, up Hezbollah,” during a gig in London back in 2024.
The band, who have continuouslydenied supporting either Hamas or Hezbollah, argued that the footage from the gig had been taken out of context and described the legal action asa “carnival of distraction”. He alsomaintained that he didn’t know what the flag was when he picked it up, and the bandinvited fans to gather in support when they made three court appearances.
Thedecision to throw the charges out was reached in September, and decided due to technicalities relating to the way in which the case was brought about.An appeal was then made by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) in January, but thrown outon March 11 after two high court judges stood by theinitialdecision.
Whenasked byNMEin a new In Conversation interviewif the legal issues had affected the new album, Chara replied: “Ididn’tsee it as pressure. Obviously, we do thrive inthe chaos, and sometimesit’seasier to deal with things whenit’sso chaotic, andyou’reonto the next thing.
“We understood that there were a lot of eyes on this album. Second album syndrome is quite intense for a lot of bands,” he added. “We knew if you were a Kneecap fan and had been watching what had been going on for the last year, you’dbevery disappointedif there was no mention of it in the album. Of course there is, and wewouldn’tlet you down.”
Posters for ‘Fenian’ had to be censored in London, with the band’s manager Daniel Lambert claiming that TransportForLondon had rejected the design.