Fontaines D.C find ‘Romance’ in misery in their fourth album

After a certain point, an artist can no longer keep recycling the same ideas. They have to progress into different genres and sounds, maturing as the artist goes through life and their perspective and lyrical focuses develop and change.  Whilst it can sometimes mean no longer making the music that initially drew people to them, it’s necessary for them, rather than getting stuck creatively.

On their fourth album, Romance, Fontaines D.C found themselves in this position. Their previous album Skinty Fia was a dense farewell to the Dublin roots that the band had emerged from, the gritty post-punk that was their defining sound pushed to its extremes with tracks like ‘I Love You’ and ‘Nabokov’. It would have been strange if after this the band just regurgitated these ideas on the next album.

Thankfully, this isn’t the case, as the band has moved into a blend of 90s alt-rock and nu-metal (aided by new producer James Ford, who has worked with the likes of Arctic Monkeys, Gorillaz, and Depeche Mode) whilst also keeping the core of the band the same with very intricate, poetic lyrics and a cutting nature to the production that remains in step with their earlier work.

 [ ‘Starburster’ ] functions as a panic attack delivered in a slightly outlandish sonic form

A clear example of this can be found in the track ‘Here’s The Thing’, which on one level can be seen as a straightforward rock track with addictive guitar riffs and Grian Chatten (lead singer and songwriter) singing in a voice that borders on falsetto. Yet just underneath it, there’s this sadness, almost desperation, that reveals itself in the song’s final moments as Chatten sings “To be anaesthetized and crave emotion/ So beautiful to hurt so well.” The vocal delivery and guitar riffs no longer read as simply a homage to the 90s but almost as a desperate plea- seeking to find a form of peace, whilst alternating between growing numbness and outward displays of pain to connect with others, or even yourself.

A similar divide is presented on the lead single for the album, ‘Starburster’. The track functions as a panic attack delivered in a slightly outlandish sonic form, emphasised by the almost erratic transition between the sombre and driving parts of the song and the way each line of the chorus concludes with a sharp gasp for air out of desperation, with all other instruments silenced for that one moment. There is also the appearance of discussions of trying to find the self without resorting to forms that ultimately feel performative, with the lyrics referencing the Screen Actors Guild strikes and JD Salinger next to depictions of drug usage and critiques of Irish institutions that fail to truly apologise for the wrongdoing they’ve been allowed to perpetuate, singing: “I wanna head to amass and get cast in it/ That shit’s funnier than any A-class, in’ it?”. There’s a frantic nature to the song, which is inspired by a panic attack Chatten had on the London Underground, that can simultaneously come off as humorous and deeply distressing.

Whilst on some level Romance may appear more approachable and mainstream, Fontaines D.C is very much still submerged in the grimy intricacies that allowed them to define themselves as a band earlier on in their career

As the album progresses, the almost feverish nature of the opening tracks subsides and the album becomes much more sombre and explicit in its existential focus. The song ‘Horseness Is The Whatness’, a title inspired by James Joyce’s Ulysses, pairs this lush, soothing orchestra with meditations about what it means to find love in a fractured world. However, unlike other tracks on the album that would throw these concepts alongside many others, ‘Horseness Is The Whatness’ sits in them, allowing them to hang in place. Even when the album picks up the pace slightly on ‘Death Kink’ it still continues to ruminate on these things, with the song being far more downbeat than earlier on.  Yet, whilst there is clear darkness in lines like “You recognized the smell, human pain/ Said I’d learn to love the chain” and the presentation of questions that Fontaines D.C know will remain unanswered by the album’s end, there is still a form of peace underneath it. Even if they may not be able to answer all the existential questions they wish to, they can still find their own sense of peace within it, their own form of romance in it all.

Whilst on some level Romance may appear more approachable and mainstream, Fontaines D.C is very much still submerged in the grimy intricacies that allowed them to define themselves as a band earlier on in their career. They maintain the same potency carving lyrics about yearning to find a sense of romance in the misery of the world that almost feels on the verge of collapse and a sense of self in a world that feels ever-changing and a sense of purpose almost fleeting. Fontaines D.C may no longer be crafting images of the Ireland that allowed them to develop their sound since re-locating to London, but that doesn’t mean they are not still able to create engaging, complex music that is able to articulate these large existential questions that most bands of their size would likely not focus on.

★★★★★

Recommended Listening: ‘Starburster’, ‘Desire’

Listen to Romance here: