Fontaines D.C. – Romance – Album Review
by Killian Laher

There are high expectations for the fourth album from the Fontaines D.C.  The last number of years have made it clear that this is not a band that stands still.  This album sounds very different from anything they’ve done previously.  The title track opens with Grian Chatten singing “Maybe romance isn’t dead” over some vaguely foreboding music.  The first single Starburster appears to be a red herring with an insistent groove and infectious chorus “I’m goin’ hit your business if it’s momentary blissness”.  It and the opener Romance are quite in your face but give little indication as to the rest of the album.

Next up is the rocking, frantic Here’s the Thing, after which things take a left turn, beginning with the slow-burning Desire.  What follows seems like something of a centrepiece, In The Modern World.  It builds up slowly with Chatten singing over strummed guitars before strings gradually join in.  It’s a bit of a grower and feels like a late summer song.  Guitar strumming takes centre stage again on the breezy, Smiths-like Bug and the anthemic Motorcycle Boy.

One of the consequences of Grian Chatten’s solo album is that he has really developed his singing voice.  He gives a great performance on another slow one, Horseness Is The Whatness before being engulfed by gauzy guitar noise at the end of the track.  The pace picks up before the end of the album with Death Kink featuring an almost pleading Chatten vocal, singing “shit shit shit, battered….” before finishing up with the summery Favourite.  This is one of the warmest songs the band have ever done, a gorgeous carefree tune with lyrics full of memories as Chatten croons “You were my favourite for a long time”.

The album is undoubtedly a departure for the band, there will be too many slow songs for some fans, but it’s as accessible an album as they’ve ever released.  The band are light years away from the Fontaines D.C. of ‘Dublin in the rain is mine’ from their debut.  Without compromising, it looks like this album will have the band on the cusp of even greater success.

Starburster