Written by Amanda Kilfeather
Declan Milne returns to his roots as a solo act, with his new single. Delving deeper into the indie-pop sound developed with five-piece Feels Like Thursday, his experimental freedom found in lockdown has resulted in the undeniably infectious debut track “She Loves You”.
I caught up with Declan shortly after the release, to hear how lockdown has been treating him and to find out more about the track. He’s fully taken this opportunity to exercise creativity, from expanding listening habits by reaching out for recommendations, to collaborating on covers with friends. As well as this, the energies of this newfound solitude have been channeled into his song writing skills, and taking his experimental freedom and running with it. He tells us: “The solo stuff is more stuff I could sit down and play on an acoustic guitar and sing to myself, and then having this realisation I could add things to it and it would come out really nice”.
Declan is not one to shy away from his pop influences – the likes of The 1975 and ultimately Carly Rae Jepsen – in fact he indulges in them, and channels all their best bits into his own music. The final result is just so uplifting.
We settle into the introductions opening riff accompanied with a deep bass line, from which a bright synth riff bursts into life and carries us in through the verse. Subtle chord progressions ride under Declan’s distinctive voice, accompanied by building light guitar licks, mirroring the innocent and light hearted nature of the lyrics. In the chorus the vocals match up with the pace of the simple yet strong and impactful rhythm, lyrics landing on a bouncy beat. Kaleidoscopic harmonies shine through in a melody that’s sure to stay on repeat in your head long after you listen.
Declan is one of those local scene legends that so easily capable of making pop effortlessly cool. This distinctive debut sets a high bar for the kind of upbeat synthy bedroom pop we can expect from his future endeavours. We truly look forward to witnessing this project grow.
Listen now on Spotify and Apple Music.
Connect with Declan Milne on Facebook and Instagram.
The Music Files 