RELEASED ON 23.8.2024 ON XL VIA UTOPIA
CATALOGUE NUMBER XL1436LP
‘Romance’ is Fontaines D.C.’s first album with producer James Ford and is without doubt theirmost assured, inventive and sonically adventurous record yet. It’s set to build on the success ofthe Dublin-made, now London-based band’s acclaimed 2022 album, ‘Skinty Fia’, whichreached Number One in the UK and Irish Album Charts and saw the band receiving a host ofaccolades including International Group Of The Year at the 2023 BRIT Awards. ‘Romance’ is Fontaines D.C.’s most ambitious, expansive record yet, its 11 tracks constellatingideas 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 ‘SkintyFia’. These ideas crystalised while touring the US and Mexico with Arctic Monkeys as the fiveband members shared music and found a throughline with artists that deftly build out their ownsprawling creative worlds: the attitude and aesthetic sheen of artists like Shygirl and SegaBodega, the bolshy sonic palettes of hip-hop and heavy metal, Mos Def, A$AP Ferg, OutKastand Korn. The band also 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 Chattenspent time in LA, and Deegan in Paris. They laid deeper roots in London. Each member spenttime pushing their boundaries - experimental riffs, chord progressions, and far-flung lyricalreferences without intentions for a record. After wrapping up the US arena tour in Autumn2023, they spent a month writing together again, three weeks of pre-production in a NorthLondon studio, and a month in a chateau close to Paris, sleeping amongst studio equipment,completely immersed. Of the album’s title, Conor Deegan says, “We’ve always had this sense of idealism andromance. Each album gets further away from observing that through the lens of Ireland, asdirectly as [Mercury Prize-nominated debut] ‘Dogrel’. The second album[the GRAMMYnominated ‘A Hero’s Death’] is about that detachment, and the third[‘Skinty Fia’]is aboutIrishness dislocated in the diaspora. Now we look to where and what else there is to beromantic about.” Expounding on the theme, Chatten recalls Katsuhiro Ôtomo’s anime ‘Akira’, where the embersof love develop despite a maelstrom of technological degradation and political corruptionaround 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 moreprecious it becomes,” while O’Connell adds, “This record is about deciding what’s fantasy - thetangible world, or where you go in your mind. What represents reality more? That feels almostspiritual for us.” The sonic evolution of the band, who bared their teeth in early records with antagonistic punksensibilities, is an ascent into grungier breaks, dystopian electronica, hip-hop percussion, anddreamy Slowdive-esque textures that may surprise fans. The shoegaze touchpoints firstpressed on ‘Skinty Fia’ unfold on ‘Romance’ like a purpling bruise. But any“retro aesthetic,”asChatten describes it, is left behind. Reflecting on the impending release, Chatten says,“We saythings on this record we’ve wanted to say for a long time. I never feel like it’s over, but it’s niceto feel lighter.” The fantasy is felt for better or worse, and Fontaines D.C. welcome either end ofoblivion.