Introducing: McCabe

“Days of Heaven” is the second single from McCabe’s debut LP Sunset Boulevard, due July 11th. Sun-drenched yet shaded with melancholy, “Days of Heaven” is the kind of track that shimmers on the surface but aches beneath. South London’s McCabe — the self-coined “experimental soul” artist — masterfully blends feel-good falsetto, vintage Motown textures and a breezy pop structure reminiscent of Valerie-era Winehouse, but with a distinctly modern pulse.

It’s the latest step in an ambitious debut journey, with Sunset Boulevard promising a genre-blurring trip through love, loss, paranoia, and dreams of stardom. With production from Patrick James Fitzroy and influences as broad as Prince, Mac Miller and Massive Attack, McCabe’s world is bold, cinematic and impossible to pin down. We caught up with McCabe to talk falsettos, fictional romances, and how “Days of Heaven” became his ultimate  bittersweet summer anthem.

“Days of Heaven” has this beautiful duality — a sunny, feel-good vibe wrapped around something more fleeting and melancholic. Can you talk us through the emotional core of the track and what inspired its narrative?

The narrative is a dream sequence about a holiday romance, capturing the beauty of falling in love with the inevitable termination looming over. My interest in this duality goes back to The Beach Boys. There is so much beauty and joy in their music. However, there is always an underlying melancholy and darkness. I find this technique very affecting and apply it to many of my songs.

You’ve described Amy Winehouse’s “Valerie” as a blueprint for the song’s structure. What was it about that particular track that resonated with you creatively, and how did it influence the way “Days of Heaven” took shape?

“Days Of Heaven” is not just inspired by “Valerie” in essence and style but also structurally. In the studio, myself and producer Patrick James Fitzroy changed the structure of the original demo and based it almost entirely on Valerie’s composition. We took note of when instruments come in and out, and it transformed the whole song. In my opinion, “Valerie” might be one of the best pop songs ever written. It’s been overplayed to death but still hits in the same way as when it first came out.

Your debut LP Sunset Boulevard promises to blur the lines between pop, soul, dub, and trip-hop. What guided you toward such an eclectic sound palette, and how did you maintain a sense of cohesion across the record?I’m guided by what I listen to — I love all kinds of music. All the influences you hear are just the things I like. I was exposed to an eclectic sound from a very young age by my Dad, and my interest in different genres has grown and grown. The sound stays cohesive because it’s not contrived. I didn’t try to make a multi-genre album; it just happened naturally. You can normally tell when an artist doesn’t know much about music — their songs usually all sound the same.

You mention embracing your falsetto later in your artistic journey. How did finding comfort in that register reshape your identity as a vocalist and performer?

I think the falsetto grounded me within my natural identity. When I was young, I was a boy soprano. As I got older, I became embarrassed and hid it. I stopped taking singing seriously altogether. When I picked it up again, I used my voice in many registers and styles, but I only truly embraced the high range again in 2020. I’ll never drop it again — it’s a part of me.

The album explores weighty themes — love, stardom, madness, paranoia. What role did improvisation and stream-of-consciousness writing play in capturing those ideas honestly?

Those themes are very much a part of my personality and daily life, for better and for worse. So inevitably, they appear a lot in my work. I start off improvising and recording melodies over the instrumentals. All it takes is a couple of improvised lines that grab me and then I expand them into a proper song. You have to let the song direct you. It’s more organic that way.

Let me know if you’d like a shorter version for press kits or a social-friendly pull quote set!