Fontaines D.C. have shared their pummelling new single ‘Starburster‘ and announced details of their fourth album ‘ROMANCE’. Check it out below.
Having been teasing the follow-up to 2022’s acclaimed ‘Skinty Fia‘ over the past week, now the Irish five-piece have announced that they’ve signed to XL Recordings (Radiohead, King Krule, The xx) for fourth album ‘ROMANCE’ – produced by James Ford (Arctic Monkeys, Foals, Depeche Mode) and due this August.
The record comes launched by ‘Starburster’ – a song inspired by frontman Grian Chatten suffering a panic attack and accompanied by a sinister and cinematic video directed by Aube Perrie (Megan Thee Stallion, Harry Styles, The Hives).
Reviewing the track, NME noted how it appears to mark how the band have “taken a perfect left turn”, adding: “Leaning on the Massive Attack trip-hop noir vibes first hinted at on ‘Skinty Fia’’s title track, ‘Starburster’ is a pensive art-rock beast that fuses elements of electronica and hip-hop more akin to their fellow striking countrymen (and recent collaborators) KNEECAP as Chatten spits: “I’m gon hit your business if it’s momentary blissness *BREEEAAAATHE*”.
“Bravado meets psychedelia as the frontman says he’s “over harder than a turned up challenger” and “the pig on the Chinese calendar”. The video, too – a fever dream of blood, animals and a cast of misfits trying to find their way – further supports their referencing of Shygirl and Sega Bodega as key inspirations.”
Speaking about the title of the album, bassist Conor Deegan said: “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 ‘Dogrel‘. The second album (‘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.”
He added: “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.”
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Chatten meanwhile, added that the album was inspired his “fascination” with “falling in love at the end of the world”.
“The album is about protecting that tiny flame,” he said. “The bigger armageddon looms, the more precious it becomes.”
Turning away from any “retro aesthetic”, Chatten added that ‘ROMANCE’ sees the band “say things we’ve wanted to say for a long time. I never feel like it’s over, but it’s nice to feel lighter.”
Fontaines D.C. release ‘ROMANCE’ on August 23 via XL Recordings. Pre-order it here and check out the tracklist below:
1. ‘Romance’
2. ‘Starburster’
3. ‘Here’s The Thing’
4. ‘Desire’
5. ‘In The Modern World’
6. ‘Bug’
7. ‘Motorcycle Boy’
8. ‘Sundowner’
9. ‘Horseness Is The Whatness’
10. ‘Death Kink’
11. ‘Favourite’
‘Romance’ will mark Fontaines D.C.’s first original music since their third album, 2022’s ‘Skinty Fia’. Since then, they’ve also covered Nick Drake’s ‘Cello Song’ for a compilation album.
In December, the band teamed up with Massive Attack and Young Fathers to announce the release of a limited edition 12” single to support Médecins Sans Frontières in their relief efforts in Gaza.The ‘Ceasefire’ EP will arrive on June 1.
The band will be touring Europe for festival appearances throughout summer, including a slot headlining Friday’s Park Stage at Glastonbury in June, and a return to Reading & Leeds’ main stage in August. UK and US headline dates will be announced shortly.