Kneecap have shared a new music for their massive new Paul Hartnoll collab single ‘Sayōnara’ featuring Derry Girls star Jamie-Lee O’Donnell – check it out below.
- READ MORE: Kneecap: giving peace, protest and partying a chance
The Irish-language rap trio have today (September 2) shared the stand-alone track, which is written and recorded in collaboration with Orbital‘s Paul Hartnoll.
The track will also be available as a double A-sided 12” alongside the Kemi Badenoch-baiting summer anthem, ‘The Recap‘ – which got its live debut at their incendiary Glastonbury 2025 set, along with ‘Sayōnara’ – and the band said fans had been “going mad for” it in mosh pits all summer.
The green vinyl variant, which was made exclusively available to fans with the band’s WhatsApp group, has now sold out, but the black variant is available to pre-order here now, and will be released on October 10.
The video, directed by Finn Keenan, features an appearance from O’Donnell, who is best known for her role as Michelle in Derry Girls. She plays an exasperated desk worker on a comedown who escapes the drudgery of the office in a van emblazoned with “Free Mo Chara”.
Speaking about her appearance in the video, Lee O’Donnell said filming it was “the best time”.
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“Not only is it a massive banger of a track but the intense yet euphoric video is sure to be remembered,” she said. “The creativity and vision of director, Finn, created a fantastic environment for us all to create something really special. I was delighted to have been asked to be involved in this project especially as I am already a huge fan of Kneecap’s music and an admirer of their work overall.”
Director Keenan added that the “intensity” of the video was intended to reflect the aftermath of a mad night out.
“Through conversations with the band, we also wanted to nod to Belfast’s rave history” he added. “In the ’90s, raves weren’t just parties — they were acts of resistance, dangerous but vital spaces where Catholics and Protestants could go to be together and dance.
“That spirit is what fuels the scene of Jamie Lee driving the pimped-up Kneecap Land Rover across the city — a kind of rave Pied Piper, spreading the idea that art, music, and creativity can break down the metaphorical walls which are often stronger than the physical ones. Pent up anger and frustration are released through dance instead of turning into hate.”
The new video arrives just after Kneecap played the main stage of Co Laois festival Electric Festival on Saturday (August 30). Their set was held just days after festival boss Melvin Benn confirmed there would be no censorship of their performance amid the intense scrutiny they’ve faced over their critique of Israel and vocal support of Palestine.
At the show, the band used their set to accuse the Irish government of being “complicit in genocide” over Israeli war bonds, and projected the message “They [Israel] are now starving the people of Gaza to death.”
Just before that gig, which saw “50,000 Fenians” sing back to the band in Irish, the group were forced to cancel their sold-out 2025 US headline tour. That update came shortly after Mo Chara’s terrorism case was adjourned until next month at his second court hearing at Westminster Magistrates’ Court in London last Wednesday (August 20).
The terrorism charges were levelled against him in May for allegedly displaying a Hezbollah flag on stage at a London show last November. The rapper is yet to enter a plea, but has denied any wrongdoing. Chara (real name Liam Óg Ó hAnnaidh) first appeared in court in June, when he was released on unconditional bail.
Chara’s lawyers are seeking to throw out the case, arguing that the terror charge against him was brought outside the time limit. They claim that it was brought a day after the six-month limit for such charges. Prosecutors, however, say the charge was brought exactly within the required time limit.
Last year, Kneecap spoke to NME for their time on The Cover and shed light on the decision to rap in their native tongue. “There’s still a post-colonial hangover of colonisers telling us that our language is useless and that we’re not progressive,” Móglaí Bap said, while DJ Provaí added: “People have been told that for the last 100 years.”
They also discussed their “Brits Out” chant from their 2019 gig at Belfast’s Empire – the day after the Prince and Princess of Wales had stood on the very same stage. “If you’re from Ireland, you understand that it means nothing to do with citizens or people who identify as British,” Mo Chara said. “It’s a term used during The Troubles about getting the British government and British soldiers out of Ireland. That was it; it was a political thing.”
Check out the full Cover story with Kneecap here.
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