About

Irish indie rock sensation Fontaines D.C. return with new album Romance, their debut on XL Recordings, out August 2024. Recorded shortly after their tour supporting Arctic Monkeys, it seizes on the momentum of 2022’s Skinty Fia, which firmly established them as one of today’s most exciting rock bands. Romance represents a bold sonic and stylistic evolution for the band and lead single “Starburster” shows the band at their most electrifying to date, as Chatten’s swaggering stream of consciousness collides with explosive production. — (via Label)
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Where Fontaines D.C.’s 2022 album Skinty Fia bid a tenebrous farewell to the band’s Dublin origins, on Romance they embrace their transformation into globe-trotting rock stars. Having evolved from the pints, poetry, and working-class grit of their roots, they’ve traded longtime collaborator Dan Carey (Squid, Black Midi) for producer James Ford, known for his work with arena-scale bands like Arctic Monkeys, Gorillaz, and Depeche Mode; they’ve replaced the raw post-punk of Dogrel and A Hero’s Death with a Frankenstein assemblage of Britpop, gothic Americana, and ’90s alt rock. Romance maintains the darkness integral to Fontaines D.C.’s music while showcasing a frisky unpredictability.

Romance opens with a feeling of limitless possibility framed against a backdrop of impending doom. The ominous title track feels like a death march: Its piano melody teeters between innocence and occult, accompanied by brooding fuzz guitar and percussion that sounds like it was recorded in a damp cave. Yet for all the music’s supersized passion, Fontaines D.C. are in an emotional headlock on Romance.

The tender “Horseness Is the Whatness”—which quotes one of their original heroes, James Joyce—is Romance’s breakthrough, and the most beautiful song in the band’s catalog to date. The ultrasound heartbeat of Carlos O’Connell’s daughter merges with lush strings into a sprawling slow burn. They haven’t thrown away all their initial inspirations, but—just like the garish green tracksuits and Y2K dye jobs—they have found exciting new ways to style them.

The brilliance of Romance lies in its unsettling blend of antic energy with refined craft—in the depths of detachment, Fontaines D.C. strike an engaging pose. — (via Pitchfork)

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Label: XL Recordings
Format: Vinyl, LP, Album, Stereo
Released: 2024
Genre: Rock, Pop
Style: Indie Rock, Post Rock, Post-Punk

File under: Alternative // Indie // Pop
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