Romance amid approaching armageddon. Life in a snowglobe, a pastoral scene made ever precarious, teetering on chaos created by the flick of the wrist. Love as an antique, that generations after us will only understand from history books. Fontaines D.C.’s fourth album ROMANCE interrogates amorphous concepts of love and relationships, alienation and identity, fantasy and reality – all building to a central statement that Chatten sings of hauntingly, invitingly, on the opening track: “Maybe romance is a place”.
11 tracks constellate ideas that have been percolating among Grian Chatten (vocals), Carlos O’Connell (guitar), Conor Curley (guitar), Conor Deegan (bass), and Tom Coll (drums) since 2021’s No.1 record Skinty Fia and tour with Arctic Monkeys. The record builds upon sonic sensibilities the band started to experiment with on Skinty Fia, now reaching into grungier textures, hip-hop breaks and beats, shoegazey tones and contemporary electronic sounds. It is as indebted to their times listening to Shygirl and Sega Bodega as it is to old Hollywood soundtracks, Korn, Outkast, and A$AP Ferg. The band introduces more assured production skills. ROMANCE’s bones were set in time spent apart, experimenting as individuals across Mexico, the Spanish countryside, and LA, and an intense production period together with Simian Mobile Disco’s James Ford (Arctic Monkeys, Blur) in a French chateau.
The album represents a provocative sonic and aesthetic era for the Dublin-made, now London-based band. Released via XL Recordings on 23 August, the James Ford-produced record has been met with an incredible response from fans and critics alike. Selling more than twice as much as their acclaimed 2022 release Skinty Fia in the first week, ROMANCE received a host of five-star plaudits from the likes of NME, The Guardian, and Rolling Stone UK meanwhile songwriting legend Elton John recently declared that they’re “the best band out there at the moment”. With its innovative sound and captivating artistry, ROMANCE cements Fontaines D.C.’s status as “the defining band of their generation” (NME).
A summer of international live shows and festivals has drawn fans deeper into their rapidly expanding universe. After landmark performances on Glastonbury’s Park Stage and at the Reading & Leeds Festival, the band announced their biggest show yet: a now sold-out, 45,000-capacity headline concert at London’s Finsbury Park in August 2025. That same month, they will deliver an equally impressive 26,000-capacity outdoor show at Wythenshawe Park in Manchester. In the meantime, Fontaines D.C. continues their extensive world tour, which will take them across North America, Canada, Europe, the UK, and Ireland throughout 2024, playing multiple sold-out shows.
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