Fontaines D.C. – 'Romance'.

The Dublin five-piece, Fontaines D.C., recently released their fourth album, ‘Romance’. This new album marks the beginning of a new era for the band, one of eye-aching neon colours and brave genre-mixing. This change has been widely welcomed by all and has been openly praised and loved by not only fans, but also a range of artists– Fred Again was seen wearing ‘Romance’ merchandise at Reading Festival the weekend of the album's release. 

Only a few days after the releases of their first two singles, ‘Starburster’ and ‘Favourite’, they had already been christened as indie anthems of the summer, so it wouldn’t be surprising if the rest of the songs on ‘Romance’ were to follow suit.

The album begins with the title track, ‘Romance’: a love song with a dark side. It is a slow and menacing song with Grian Chattern’s soft and sinister vocals admitting his extreme, almost deadly love and commitment: ‘God knows I love you / Screw in my head / I will be beside you / Until you’re dead’. These lyrics are accompanied with an eerie sound of repetitive piano keys and crashing drums, giving a sense of impending doom.

The first single of the album, 'Starburster', was released in April and is already a well-loved and well-known indie tune– one that will undoubtedly be remembered in years to come, alongside songs like Arctic Monkeys’ ‘I Bet You Look Good On The Dance Floor’ and The Strokes’ ‘Last Nite’. 'Starburster' is one of the more lively tunes on the album, and is undeniably catchy and unique with its heavy drums, loud gasps and nonsensical lyrics which are reminiscent of Blur’s jabbering in their hit, ‘Song 2’.

This album draws influence from the post-punk, gothic-rock bands of the 1980’s, like The Cure and Joy Division. This influence is the heard the strongest in their song, ‘Bugs’, with its moody, lovelorn lyrics and a guitar intro similar to The Cure’s song, ‘M’. There are other influences from other genres, with Deftones-esque ‘Here’s The Thing’ and ‘In The Modern World’ which has the same dreamy, distant vocals as Lana Del Rey during the chorus: ‘Kissing on the corner (yeah?) / Wait for just a minute (what?) / Come away with me and Sal / I promise you’ll be in it’. 

‘Romance’ ends on a high-note with the jubilant and carefree ‘Favourite’– a heavy acoustic song with an infectious guitar riff that makes the song instantly recognisable. 

This new album is an excellent showcase of Fontaines’ diverse ability. No two songs are the same– for every slower-paced song, there is a faster-paced one, and for every dark and moody song, there is a brighter and livelier tune to accompany it. It is a bold and unique album, in which they somehow even managed to make something as simple as breath catchy in their songs ‘Starburster’ and ‘Here’s The Thing’. 

They are set to headline their own Finsbury Park show in 2025 to promote this album– a show that assuredly will be a huge part of music history.