FONTAINES D.C.

Fontaines D.C pre-order actie: Bestel het nieuwe album Romance op vinyl en ontvang deze unieke slipmat. Deze actie geldt zowel in de winkels als online, maar OP=OP



LIMITED INDIE ONLY PINK VINYL

ROMANCE is Fontaines D.C.s most ambitious, expansive record yet, its 11 tracks constellating ideas that have been
percolating among Grian Chatten (vocals), Carlos O’Connell (guitar), Conor Curley (guitar), Conor Deegan (bass), and
Tom Coll (drums) since they released Skinty Fia in 2022. These ideas crystalised while touring the U.S. and Mexico with
Arctic Monkeys as the five band members shared music and found a throughline with artists that deftly build out their
own sprawling creative worlds: the attitude and aesthetic sheen of artists like Shygirl and Sega Bodega, the bolshy sonic
palettes of the likes of Mos Def, A$AP Ferg, OutKast and The Prodigy. They had time apart to build more singular visions
for what future music could be: O’Connell went to Spain’s Castile-La Mancha and later became a new father, while
Chatten spent time in LA, and Deegan in Paris. They laid deeper roots in London. Each member spent time pushing their
boundaries – experimental riffs, chord progressions, and far-flung lyrical references without intentions for a record. After
wrapping up the US arena tour in Autumn 2023, they spent a month writing together again, three weeks of pre-production
in a North London studio, and a month in a chateau close to Paris, sleeping among studio equipment, completely
immersed.
Of the album’s title, Conor Deegan says, “We’ve always had this sense of idealism and romance. Each album gets further
away from observing that through the lens of Ireland, as directly as (Mercury Prize-nominated debut) Dogrel. The second
album (the GRAMMY-nominated A Hero’s Death) is about that detachment, and the third (Skinty Fia) is about Irishness
dislocated in the diaspora. Now we look to where and what else there is to be romantic about.”
Expounding on the theme, Chatten recalls Katsuhiro Ôtomo’s anime Akira, where the embers of love develop despite a
maelstrom of technological degradation and political corruption around its characters. “I’m fascinated by that - falling in
love at the end of the world,” he says. “The album is about protecting that tiny flame. The bigger armageddon looms, the
more precious it becomes,” while O’Connell adds “This record is about deciding what’s fantasy – the tangible world, or
where you go in your mind. What represents reality more? That feels almost spiritual for us.”
The sonic evolution of the band, who bared their teeth in early records with antagonistic punk sensibilities, is an ascent
into grungier breaks, dystopian electronica, hip-hop percussion, and dreamy Slowdive-esque textures that may surprise
fans. The shoegaze touchpoints first pressed on Skinty Fia unfold on ROMANCE like a purpling bruise. But any “retro
aesthetic”, as Chatten describes it, is left behind. Reflecting on the impending release, Chatten says, “We say things on
this record we’ve wanted to say for a long time. I never feel like it's over, but it’s nice to feel lighter.” The fantasy is felt
for better or worse, and Fontaines D.C. welcome either end of oblivion