Fine Art (Kneecap album)

2024 studio album by Kneecap

Fine Art

Studio album by

Kneecap

Released| 14 June 2024 (2024-06-14)
Studio|

* Bell Brothers (London)
* The Clinic (Dublin)

Length| 37:46
Language|

* English
* Irish

Label| Heavenly
Producer| Toddla T
Kneecap chronology
| 3CAG
(2018)  | Fine Art
(2024)  |

|
|

Singles from  Fine Art

1. "Better Way to Live"
Released: 15 November 2023
2. "Sick in the Head"
Released: 20 February 2024
3. "Fine Art"
Released: 27 March 2024
4. "Love Making"
Released: 1 May 2024

Fine Art is the second studio album by Irish hip hop trio Kneecap, released on 14 June 2024 through Heavenly Recordings.[1] It includes guest appearances by Radie Peat, Grian Chatten, Nino, and Jelani Blackman. The album received positive reviews from critics and debuted at number 2 on the Irish albums chart.[2]

## Critical reception

[edit]

Professional ratingsAggregate scores

Source| Rating
Metacritic| 79/100[3]
Review scores
Source| Rating
AllMusic| [4]
Clash| 6/10[5]
DIY| [6]
The Irish Times| [7]
Mojo| [8]
NME| [9]
RTÉ| [10]
The Skinny| [11]
Uncut| 7/10[12]
Under the Radar| [13]

Fine Art received a score of 79 out of 100 on review aggregator Metacritic based on eight critics' reviews, which the website categorised as "generally favourable" reception.[3] Mojo opined that "the wild times end on a poignant, giddy high with 'Parful' – a house-y banger raving about everyday hedonism transcending sectarian violence – an irresistible distillation of Kneecap's peacetime party music".[8] Uncut called it "overly indebted to its inspirations – among them Ghetts, Stormzy and The Streets – it may be, but the stroppy 'I Bhfiacha Linne' and 'Rhino Ket', a moody techno/dancehall hybrid, are hard to deny".[12]

DIY's Lisa Wright described the album as "in its own warped way, as its title suggests: a fully-immersive, conceptual production that, much like their recent Sundance award-winning biopic, is far, far too clever to just be the work of three miscreants".[6] Chris Sneddon of The Skinny found that it "has its ups and downs, it can be deep, it can be controversial, but in the long run, it's a good laugh and a thumping good time" as well as "a banging collision of rap and rave music".[11]

### Year-end lists

[edit]

Select 2024 year-end rankings for Fine Art Publication/critic  | Accolade  | Rank  | Ref.

|
|
|

The Line of Best Fit | Best Albums of the Year 2024  | 46  | [14]
Louder Than War | Top 100 Albums of 2024  | 44  | [15]
Mondo Sonoro | Best International Albums of 2024  | 48  | [16]
NME | 50 Best Albums of 2024  | 13  | [17]
Rough Trade UK | Albums of the Year 2024  | 26  | [18]
The Skinny | 20 Albums of 2024  | 4  | [19]
The Sunday Times | 25 Best Albums of 2024  | 5  | [20]
The Telegraph | 10 Best Albums of 2024  | 10  | [21]
Vogue | The 36 Best Albums of 2024  | —  | [22]

## Track listing

[edit]

All lyrics are written by Kneecap; "Harrow Road" lyrics written with Jelani Blackman.

Fine Art track listingNo.| Title| Music| Length

|
|
|

1.| "3CAG" (featuring Radie Peat)|

* Kneecap
* Radie Peat
* Thomas Mackenzie Bell
* Joe O'Donnell

| 3:08
2.| "Fine Art"| Kneecap| 2:19
3.| "Interlude: Making Headlines"|

* Kneecap
* Bell

| 0:27
4.| "I bhFiacha Linne"|

* Kneecap
* Bell
* Arveene Juthan
* Andrew Barker
* Graham Massey
* Darren Partington
* Martin Price

| 3:07
5.| "Interlude: Never Gets a Round"|

* Kneecap
* Bell

| 0:24
6.| "I'm Flush"|

* Kneecap
* Bell
* Adrian McLeod

| 2:56
7.| "Interlude: State of Ya"|

* Kneecap
* Bell

| 0:13
8.| "Better Way to Live" (featuring Grian Chatten)|

* Kneecap
* Bell
* McLeod

| 2:56
9.| "Sick in the Head"|

* Kneecap
* Bell
* McLeod

| 2:32
10.| "Love Making" (featuring Nino)|

* Kneecap
* Bell

| 2:27
11.| "Interlude: Amhrán na Scadán"|

* Kneecap
* Bell

| 0:24
12.| "Drug Dealin Pagans"|

* Kneecap
* Bell

| 2:33
13.| "Interlude: Kneecap Chaps"|

* Kneecap
* Bell

| 0:37
14.| "Harrow Road" (featuring Jelani Blackman)|

* Kneecap
* Bell
* Tom Coll
* Nick Detnon

| 3:45
15.| "Parful"|

* Kneecap
* Bell

| 3:19
16.| "Rhino Ket"|

* Kneecap
* Bell

| 3:07
17.| "Interlude: Last Orders"|

* Kneecap
* Bell

| 0:15
18.| "Way Too Much"|

* Kneecap
* Bell
* McLeod

| 3:17
Total length:| 37:46

Notes

* On physical editions, the interludes do not include "Interlude" in the title and are listed as unnumbered tracks.
* "3CAG" contains a sample of "Caravan" by Joe O'Donnell.
* "I bhFiacha Linne" contains a sample of "Cübik" by 808 State.
* "Harrow Road" contains elements from "Creeper" by Nick Detnon.
* "Parful" contains excerpts from the film Dancing on Narrow Ground written and directed by Des Bell.
* A demo of "Glue Man" was included as a bonus track on digital downloads of the album during its first week of release.[23]

## Personnel

[edit]

Kneecap

* Móglaí Bap – vocals
* Mo Chara – vocals
* DJ Próvaí – vocals

Additional contributors

* Toddla T – production, mixing
* James Eager – engineering
* Tom Coll – drums ("I'm Flush", "Better Way to Live")
* Adrian McLeod – synthesizer, keyboards ("I'm Flush", "Way Too Much"); piano ("Better Way to Live", "Way Too Much"), synth bass, synth pad ("Better Way to Live"), bass ("Way Too Much")
* Grian Chatten – vocals ("Better Way to Live")
* Andy Nicholson – bass ("Better Way to Live")
* Steven Loughrin – flute ("Drug Dealin Pagans")
* Manchán Magan – guest vocals ("Drug Dealin Pagans")
* Lisa Canny – choir ("Way Too Much")
* Saara Kaldma – choir ("Way Too Much")
* Gertrud Aasaroht – choir ("Way Too Much")
* Tony McHugh – choir ("Way Too Much")
* Colin Andrews – choir ("Way Too Much")
* Aoife O'Dea – choir ("Way Too Much")

## Charts

[edit]

Chart performance for Fine Art Chart (2024)  | Peak
position

|

Irish Albums (OCC)[24] | 2
Scottish Albums (OCC)[25] | 3
UK Albums (OCC)[26] | 43
UK Independent Albums (OCC)[27] | 3
UK R&B Albums (OCC)[28] | 1

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "KNEECAP'S DEBUT ALBUM 'FINE ART' IS OUT NOW! AND THE REVIEWS KEEP COMING!". Heavenly Recordings on Instagram. 19 June 2024. Retrieved 25 December 2024.
2. ^ "Kneecap debut at number two on the Irish charts". RTÉ. 21 June 2024. Retrieved 25 December 2024. "Kneecap's debut album Fine Art has landed at the number two spot on the Irish charts after a closely fought battle with Taylor Swift."
3. ^ a b "Fine Art by Kneecap Reviews and Tracks". Metacritic. Retrieved 4 August 2024.
4. ^ Simpson, Paul. "Fine Art Review by Paul Simpson". AllMusic. Retrieved 23 December 2024.
5. ^ Murray, Robin (13 June 2024). "KNEECAP – Fine Art". Clash. Retrieved 23 December 2024.
6. ^ a b Wright, Lisa. "Kneecap – Fine Art review". DIY. Retrieved 13 June 2024.
7. ^ Mullally, Una (13 June 2024). "Kneecap: Fine Art review – Intimidatingly brilliant tribute to hedonism, identity and the pure joy of living fast". The Irish Times. Retrieved 23 December 2024.
8. ^ a b "Kneecap – Fine Art". Mojo. July 2024. p. 94.
9. ^ Trendell, Andrew (14 June 2024). "Kneecap – 'Fine Art' review: poetry on the cubicle wall of a wild night out". NME. Retrieved 23 December 2024.
10. ^ Corr, Alan (14 June 2024). "Kneecap make an exhibition of themselves on Fine Art". RTÉ. Retrieved 23 December 2024.
11. ^ a b Sneddon, Chris (12 June 2024). "Kneecap – Fine Art album review". The Skinny. Retrieved 13 June 2024.
12. ^ a b "Kneecap – Fine Art". Uncut. July 2024. p. 36.
13. ^ Matt the Raven (26 June 2024). "Kneecap: Fine Art (Heavenly) - review". Under the Radar. Retrieved 23 December 2024.
14. ^ The Line of Best Fit (9 December 2024). "The Best Albums of the Year 2024". thelineofbestfit.com. Retrieved 19 December 2024.
15. ^ Whittle, Nathan (4 December 2024). "Louder Than War Top 100 Albums of 2024". louderthanwar.com. Retrieved 19 December 2024.
16. ^ "Mondo Sonoro: Best Albums of 2024". yearendlists.com. 4 December 2024. Retrieved 19 December 2024.
17. ^ "The 50 Best Albums of 2024". nme.com. 6 December 2024. Retrieved 19 December 2024.
18. ^ "Albums of the Year 2024". roughtrade.com. 19 November 2024. Retrieved 20 November 2024.
19. ^ The Skinny Music Team (3 December 2024). "The Skinny's Albums of 2024". theskinny.co.uk. Retrieved 19 December 2024.
20. ^ The Sunday Times Music Staff (8 December 2024). "The 25 best albums of 2024—the critics' choice, ranked". thetimes.com. Retrieved 19 December 2024.
21. ^ McCormick, Neil (13 December 2024). "The 10 best albums of 2024, ranked". telegraph.co.uk. Retrieved 19 December 2024.
22. ^ Cafolla, Anna (20 December 2024). "The 36 Best Albums of 2024". Vogue. Retrieved 23 December 2024.
23. ^ "KNEECAP include exclusive unreleased track in digital downloads of new album for this week only". Hot Press. 19 June 2024. Retrieved 23 December 2024.
24. ^ "Official Irish Albums Chart Top 50". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 21 June 2024.
25. ^ "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 22 June 2024.
26. ^ "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 21 June 2024.
27. ^ "Official Independent Albums Chart Top 50". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 22 June 2024.
28. ^ "Official R&B Albums Chart Top 40". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 22 June 2024.

*[Ref.]: Reference
*[No.]: Number