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- Apr 30, 2026‘Fenian’ is a spraypainted brick wall of consistency, amplifying the adventure of The Prodigy and Burial, seamlessly but tastefully hopping genres while keeping the vibe up to retain Kneecap’s knack for having a good time to illuminate the hard times.
- Apr 23, 2026A record which is dense, musically adventurous and arguably one of the more important albums to be released this year. It’s also a record that proves that there’s more to the trio than tabloid outrage and overblown headlines.
- May 1, 2026A compelling, smart and impressive album. What the album isn’t, at least when taken as a whole, is the defiant victory lap it’s been acclaimed as in some quarters. Fenian is more complex, intriguing and fraught than that, which makes sense.
- Apr 30, 2026For all the hype and controversy Kneecap has received, it feels like the group is simply getting back to basics and doing what they do best on Fenian, resulting in their most accomplished effort to date.
- Apr 27, 2026The sound is raw and grinds with edgier and harder beats, perhaps signalling a new direction for the group’s versatile beatmaker, DJ Próvaí. .... A well put-together album, thanks in part to working alongside super-producer Dan Carey.
- Apr 24, 2026Fenian is an immensely enjoyable record. Chara and Bap have a great natural sense of flow, able to syncopate phrases in a way to ensure the punchlines hit.
- UncutApr 23, 2026They're still loud and angry - exploring themes around national identity, solidarity and challenging political establishments - but there is greater musical depth and breadth. [May 2025, p.32]
- MojoApr 23, 2026On Fenian they back that shrewdness with songs of depth and substance. [Jun 2026, p.90]
- Apr 23, 2026If all Kneecap offered was the spectacle of someone stirring shit up, like the Pistols, PE and early Manics in previous generations, they would still be worth having around. But Fenian offers far more. Their day has come. [May 2026, p.100]
- Apr 29, 2026The trio sharpens its focus, marrying clever production with the soul-eating intensity that propelled its rise.
- Apr 30, 2026The shockingly personal look at every contour of this lofty title FENIAN – all the happiness, empowerment, community, successes, sacrifices, disenchantment, confliction, grief – makes for a far more interesting, humanising record. Kneecap’s fire understandably dimmed, but it never sizzled out.
- Apr 30, 2026Dan Carey – Speedy Wunderground head honcho and producer of Fontaines D.C. amongst many others – helms the boards for this record, and sonically it feels richer, with more depth than its predecessors. .... That said, some of the cartoonish aspects of Kneecap’s past remain firmly fixed in place.
- Apr 28, 2026Even when the subject matter skirts into uncomfortable territory (“Smugglers and Scholars” isn’t shy about mythologizing IRA violence), the general feel of this joyously hard-hitting album is as convivial as a fun night out at the pub, fusing decades of music into a coherent playful whole (abetted by Fontaines DC and Wet Leg producer Dan Carey).
