FONTAINES DC – ROMANCE
XL Recordings
23rd August 2024
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Fontaines DC evolve farther from their post-punk roots in an exploration of human connection in our dark and divisive times on their fourth album Romance. Strings, syths and a hip-hop influence make a melting pot of new influences on Dublin’s finest export since Guinness, says Tim Cooper.
In an increasingly fractured world, times like these require us to stick together more than ever: we are lost without love. The Dublin quintet take that equation and turn it into a dozen songs that consider the many ways in which romance is the answer to our troubles; or if not the answer, then at least a balm to help us deal with them.
It’s a far cry from Dogrel’s proclamations of Irishness and Skinty Fia’s ruminations on what it means to be Irish when the boys have moved away from the better land. They even look different: a glam makeover (bright clothes and brighter hair) makes them unrecognisable from the urchins who burst out of Dublin with that first wave of songs – Hurricane Laughter, Liberty Belle and their signature anthem Boys In The Better Land.
Now based in London and fast becoming festival favourites with a fervent following, Fontaines are approaching arena-sized status; this could – should – will – be the album that takes them up a level into stadiums.
“Into the darkness again,” beckons Grian Chatten in an uncharacteristically mellifluous croon on the album’s opener, over a menacing bassline that swells into a distorted orchestral boom as he tries to put his finger on the subject at hand, concluding: “Maybe romance is a place.”
In the accompanying blurb sent to reviewers, Chatten says he’s fascinated by the idea of falling in love at the end of the world and “protecting that tiny flame,” making it more precious as armageddon looms. Meanwhile, guitarist Carlos O’Connell says it’s about what’s reality and what’s fantasy: “the tangible world, or where you go in your mind.”
But that’s just the backstory; something for the PRs and the critics to ponder and analyse. Do Fontaines fans, the ones who communally sing their songs and leap around with pints in their hands creating the sort of frenzy in the mosh pit that used to be reserved for The Pogues, really care about the subtext of the lyrics? Or do they just want to know what it sounds like?
Of course they don’t. And of course they do. And the answer is… different. Very different.
Put it this way: there’s not a single song on Romance that you could imagine hearing on any of their three previous albums. It’s about as radical a departure as you could get; the band say their main influences on Romance are experimental hip-hop, electronica and the nu-metal of Korn – not that you’d necessarily know it. The Fontaines identity remains thankfully intact, not least because of Chatten and his distinctive accent, though his voice is different here too – or at least wider-ranging.
He hasn’t sounded like this before: what started as a semi-spoken vocal style, heavy on the North Dublin accent, is stretched into new areas on songs like Here’s The Thing and the chamber ballad Desire, where it’s almost a falsetto, emphasising the yearning at the heart of the latter’s lyric; Chatten has said this is the first album on which he has actively liked the sound of his own voice.
Musically too, it’s an equally radical departure: waves of mellotron wash through several songs, adding orchestral-sounding layers, while synths and electronic machines pulse behind the familiar guitars and drums of yore. The middle section of the album consists largely of big ballads: standout track In The Modern World is an epic affair that sums up the theme of the album as Chatten articulates his alienation: “In the modern world I don’t feel anything.”
We’ve already heard the heavily hip-hop-influenced first single, Starburster, with Chatten gasping for breath – recreating a real-life panic attack – against churning, claustrophobic instrumentation that recalls not so much of Wu Tang Clan (though you can imagine them admiring the stifling beats) as F.E.A.R.-era Ian Brown. It was a clever move to put the song out first, signalling a major change of direction, but it’s not really representative of the rest of the album.
Acoustic guitars introduce Bug, a jaunty affair which serves as the Fontaines’ answer to That’s Entertainment – that moment when The Jam shelved their Maximum R&B to serve up an unexpectedly pastoral change of pace. Building slowly with piano and pizzicato strings, it’s the nearest Chatten gets to what you might call his “old” singing style until the penultimate song, Death Kink.
More acoustic guitars introduce Motorcycle Boy, with Chatten ruminating about the impending approach of his 30th birthday alongside a melancholy cello, an instrument that would have seemed incongruous in a Fontaines song in the past, reinforcing the idea that this is virtually a different band with the same personnel.
Sundowner continues the mellow mood: written and sung by guitarist Conor Curley, it is built around waves of mellotron and his own mellifluous vocals; the vibe continued on the gentle, Joycean, string-drenched ballad Horseness Is The Whatness, written in Spain by the band’s toher guitarist Carlos O’Connell, overlaid with a lavish string arrangement apparently inspired by his time producing Peter Perrett’s latest record.
Fans searching for a glimmer of “old Fontaines” would do best to head for Death Kink, with its grinding guitars and Chatten’s conversational sung-spoken vocal, plus a pleasantly dissonant guitar solo. Its place in the running order makes it something of a placeholder for the closing Favourite, already released as a single, and one of the more conventional tunes here, with a lovelorn lyric displaying a childlike sentiment that sums up the album’s title and theme succinctly: “You’ve been my favourite for a long time.”
It’s a fair bet that Fontaines fans will feel the same about Romance.
More of Tim Cooper’s writing at his Louder Than War author’s archive and at Muck Rack. He posts music daily at EatsDrinksAndLeaves.com
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