Kneecap have scored the highest UK chart position for an Irish language album with their new album ’Fenian’ and will donate sales 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 with Kae 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 biopic Michael. It last topped the chart in 2009 following Jackson’s death.
Elsewhere in the chart, Melanie C secured her highest ever solo album placing, and the highest for any Spice Girls solo record, with ‘Sweat’ reaching Number Three, while Kacey Musgraves’ ‘Middle Of Nowhere’ landed at Number Seven.
Writing on Instagram, Kneecap have said that they “have decided to give all our earnings from these sales away to three organisations”, namely The Palestine Solidarity Campaign in London, as well as the two Belfast-based Irish community groups Glór na Móna and Cultúrlann McAdam Ó Fiaich.
The ‘Fenian’ album title, the band have explained, 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 album was given a four-and-a-half-star review from NME, which read: “Put all the rage-bait headlines aside and what you’re left with is a solid, progressive and 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 continuously denied supporting either Hamas or Hezbollah, argued that the footage from the gig had been taken out of context and described the legal action as a “carnival of distraction”. He also maintained that he didn’t know what the flag was when he picked it up, and the band invited fans to gather in support when they made three court appearances.
The decision 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 out on March 11 after two high court judges stood by the initial decision.
When asked by NME in a new In Conversation interview if the legal issues had affected the new album, Chara replied: “I didn’t see it as pressure. Obviously, we do thrive in the chaos, and sometimes it’s easier to deal with things when it’s so chaotic, and you’re onto 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’d be very disappointed if there was no mention of it in the album. Of course there is, and we wouldn’t let you down.”
Posters for ‘Fenian’ had to be censored in London, with the band’s manager Daniel Lambert claiming that Transport For London had rejected the design.