Draft:Romance (Fontaines D.C. album)

Romance is the upcoming fourth studio album by Irish rock band, Fontaines D.C., and is scheduled for release on 23 August 2024. It was announced on 17 April 2024 along with the lead single, "Starburster", inspired by lead singer, Grian Chatten's panic attack in London's St. Pancras station. The second single, "Favourite", was released on 18 June.

Romance is the band's first album on XL Recordings, after leaving their previous label, Partisan, as well as the first to be produced by producer James Ford, and Dan Carey.

Writing and recording
The band took a break from writing and recording after their previous album, Skinty Fia, in 2022 and only toured in the summer of 2023 with Arctic Monkeys.

The album is a departure from the band's focus on Ireland in their previous albums, and moves further away, with Connor Deegan telling the NME:

''“We’ve always had this sense of idealism and romance. Each album gets further away from observing that through the lens of Ireland”''

"Horseness is the Whatness", was written by guitarist Carlos O'Connell, and it's title taken from James Joyce's Ulysses.

"Here's the Thing" lyrics were built off the back of a brief argument between Grian and Carlos, and "In the Modern World" was inspired by Lana Del Rey's "Strain of Disillusionment". "Favourite" originally had twelve verses written by Grian, however it was shortened to just four by the band. And, to Connor Curley, his lead vocals on "Sundowner" were by accident.

The album was recorded in a month, in November 2023, with demos being made in October, along with three weeks of pre-production in London.

Influences
Grian, being reluctant to discuss any poetic influence on his lyrics, did reveal himself reading Dylan Thomas, and Land Sickness by Niklolaj Schultz. The more legible influences on the record are found in the form of cinema, with movies such as Sunset Boulevard, and The Great Beauty.

Supporting the Arctic Monkeys on their North American tour, and watching Blur play Wembley acted as inspirations on Grian, stating:

“I didn’t want to write, like, a Champagne Supernova, but I did want to do something that felt like it was deep within and far without,”

"In the Modern World" is inspired by Akira's "depiction of apocalyptic emotion", with Grian mentioning "..I can hear the buildings collapsing." Wings of Desire is another influence on Grian.

Korn inspired Nu-Metal sweeps into lead single "Starburster", with Grian going on to say that “scared the shit out of me as a kid”.

Guitarist Carlos O'Connell shares the sentiment regarding Korn, with “this thing I loved when I was 14 and stopped listening to for years and now I love again”.

Korn contemporaries Deftones and Alice in Chains too, acted as inspiration for Carlos.

'Favourite', with its melancholic swirl of jangle has been compared to Morrissey's 'Why Don't You Find Out For Yourself?'

Personnel
Adapted from Liner Notes.

Fontaines D.C:


 * Grian Chatten - Words, Lead Vocals (1-7, 9-11), Piano, Guitar on 'In the Modern World', 'Motorcycle Boy', 'Death Kink' and 'Favourite'.
 * Connor Curley - Guitar, Bass on 'Romance', 'Starburster', Lead Vocals and Words on 'Sundowner' (8), Backing Vocals on 'Romance', 'Desire', 'Bug'.
 * Carlos O'Connell - Guitar, Mellotron (1,2,5,8,9), Backing Vocals (4,7,11), Yamaha Reface Synth (1,2,4,5,8,9,10). Words for 'Horseness is the Whatness'.
 * Connor Deegan III - Bass, Backing Vocals (1-8, 10-11).
 * Tom Coll - Drums, Guitar on 'Horseness is the Whatness'

Additional Instrumentation:


 * James Ford - Production, Mixing, Fuzz Guitar on 'Romance'
 * Freddy Woodsworth - Keys Arrangement on 'Starburster'.
 * Anthony Cazade - Engineer
 * Samuel Borst - Assistant Engineer

Art Direction: Carlos O'Connell and Texas Maragh.

Cover Images by Lulu Lin.