Fontaines D.C. announce fourth album ‘ROMANCE’ with first single ‘Starburster’
The new James Ford-produced single is the band's first releases since signing to XL Recordings.
Fontaines D.C. have announced their fourth album, ROMANCE, along with their signing to XL Recordings.
The Dublin band’s new record will arrive on August 23 and follow 2022’s Skinty Fia. It is being previewed today by a video for the James Ford-produced first single ‘Starburster’.
Discussing the album’s title, bassist Conor Deegan said: “We’ve always had this sense of idealism and romance. Each album gets further away from observing that through the lens of Ireland, as directly as Dogrel.
“The second album is about that detachment, and the third is about Irishness dislocated in the diaspora. Now we look to where and what else there is to be romantic about.”
Frontman Grian Chatten adds that the album is inspired by the Katsuhiro Ôtomo anime Akira, saying: “I’m fascinated by that – falling in love at the end of the world.
“The album is about protecting that tiny flame. The bigger armageddon looms, the more precious it becomes.”
The frontman adds: “We say things on this record we’ve wanted to say for a long time. I never feel like it’s over, but it’s nice to feel lighter.”
Guitarist Carlos O’Connell said: “This record is about deciding what’s fantasy – the tangible world, or where you go in your mind. What represents reality more? That feels almost spiritual for us.”
See the artwork and tracklist for ROMANCE below.
1. ‘Romance’
2. ‘Starburster’
3. ‘Here’s The Thing’
4. ‘Desire’
5. ‘In The Modern World’
6. ‘Bug’
7. ‘Motorcycle Boy’
8. ‘Sundowner’
9. ‘Horseness is the Whatness’
10. ‘Death Kink’
11. ‘Favourite’