Master Peace and Declan McKenna ‘Fuck It Up’ on purpose

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omentum is doing most of the work on ‘Fuck It Up’. The track barely pauses to explain itself, charging forward on instinct and nervous energy and trusting that volume and intent will hold it together. Pairing Master Peace with Declan McKenna, it’s not a collaboration built around polish or balance. It thrives on contrast and lets the friction show.

Peace sounds wired. Restless. Like the song is chasing his thoughts rather than the other way around. McKenna arrives with something calmer and more melodic, almost classic in shape, and suddenly the whole thing snaps into focus without losing its edge. Not refinement. Structure. Chaos with a centre. The kind of pairing that makes both voices land harder.

That same tension runs through ‘Stupid Kids’, the EP ‘Fuck It Up’ is pulled from. There’s no nostalgia here and no attempt to tidy the past up into something easier to digest. Youth is treated as it usually is in reality. Loud. Confusing. Full of bad decisions, half-understood behaviour and moments that only make sense much later. The energy is fun. The subject matter isn’t pretending to be.

Which is why Peace doesn’t sound like someone slowing down. The single is barely out, the EP is lined up, and he’s already writing again, refusing to sit still long enough for reflection to curdle into self-analysis. When we catch up with him, he’s in LA and very much in motion, talking fast about impulse, collaboration and why sometimes the mess is the point.

“Who better than Declan?”

Hello, Master Peace! We’re only just into 2026, but it already feels busy. How’s the year treating you so far, creatively and otherwise?

I’m currently in LA writing new music! It’s been such a great start to the year. It was important to get a bit of rest over the Christmas period, but we were straight back in, with my latest single [‘Fuck It Up’] out only a week ago, featuring Declan McKenna. I just want to keep it moving post the EP coming out in February!

When did the idea of working with Declan first come about, and what made this song feel like the right place to do it?

This song is a really special one to me. I was in the studio with Dan Carey, and we’d just made ‘Harley’ and ‘Shake Me Down’. We decided to do something a bit different, so I started freestyling! The song is a one-take! 

After living with it for a little while, I thought that it could do with a feature, and who better than Declan? Thankfully, he loved the track too, and the rest is history. We got back into the studio, and he recorded one of my favourite verses ever.

Did it change shape once he got involved?

Yes, it was originally just me and a freestyle, but Declan came down to the studio once he’d heard it and recorded his John Lennon-esque verse.

How would you describe the dynamic between you two?

It’s great! We hadn’t met before that day, but we get along really well. Declan has really bought into promoting the song, which I have massively appreciated, so much so that we are putting on a one-night-only DJ night for the fans!

The title ‘Fuck It Up’ feels really freeing. What does that phrase mean to you in the context of the song?

The song is personal to me. It reflects on my youth, dealing with being neurodivergent and sometimes fucking it up, regrettably, but sometimes fucking things up without knowing because of the struggles of having ADHD and autism.

What do you think Declan brought out in your sound? Did working with him push you in any new directions?

It didn’t necessarily push me in a new direction because the song was already there before he hopped on it, but his soothing melodic verse really helps bring out the rawness and edginess of my vocal delivery. It’s the perfect juxtaposition, which is why I love this track so much.

‘Fuck It Up’ is from your upcoming EP, ‘Stupid Kids’. Where does this track sit within the wider story of the project?

It’s very much in line with the story of the EP. The EP reflects on my youth and being a ‘stupid kid’ — doing dumb things that every kid can relate to, getting in trouble, and just being young. ‘Fuck It Up’ reflects on that, but in more detail, as it touches on why I may have done some of these things in my past, because I was dealing with neurodivergence.

What can you tell us about the other songs on the EP?

They’re almost all out now, haha! ‘Stupid Kids’ is a big stadium, anthemic banger that reminds me of all the great British indie bands of the past, and ‘My Guitar’ is a bop that you want to dance to. Raucous and full of energy.

What else are you working on at the moment?

I’m currently finishing my second album, as well as getting ready for a couple of big support tours in the very near future. Stay tuned. ■ 

Taken from the March 2026 of Dork. Master Peace’s EP ‘Stupid Kids’ is out 27th February.