Declan McKenna: SXSW 2016

This week at SXSW, FUV caught up with several young artists and bands, all on the verge of bigger things, at Austin's Hotel Saint Cecilia. 

Only 16 years old when he released his first single, the wiry, FIFA-inspired "Brazil," last year, Declan McKenna won the Glastonbury Festival's prestigious 2015 Emerging Talent Competition and signed a deal with Columbia Records (allegedly on the vast grounds of Glasto's Worthy Farm). Another single which dealt with teen suicide, "Paracetamol," followed last winter.

The David Bowie-loving, Hertfordshire-born teenager, now 17, is working towards the release of his debut album later this year collaborating with producers James Ford (Foals, Arctic Monkeys) and Neil Comber (Django Django, M.I.A.). In the meantime, McKenna included SXSW in his Stateside debut and performed this poolside, acoustic version of "Brazil" for FUV.