The Irish Post-Punk band Fontaines D.C. seemed to come out of nowhere in 2019 with their stellar debut, Dogrel, and through sheer originality – and strong word of mouth – quickly became one of the most exciting new bands forging a path away from the mainstream.
In quick succession, and despite a global pandemic that shut down the world for a couple of years, the band spun out two more solid records and is ready with their fourth offering, Romance. This record, their most adventurous so far, pairs the band with a new producer, James Ford, who has worked with everyone from Blur and Depeche Mode to Arctic Monkeys and the Pet Shop Boys. The new pairing seemingly pushed the band to expand their sound a bit, making for a strongly compelling evolution. A perfect example is the opening title track. Despite the title, it’s menacing and also has echoes of some of Depeche Mode’s darker tracks. The next song, “Starburster,” is a deeply personal narrative about a panic attack singer Grian Chatten suffered in a London train station. The song’s frenetic music perfectly mirrors the attack. Meanwhile, “Here’s The Thing” layers sharp angular guitar riffs with Nine Inch Nails-worthy synths for an addictive sound. But the album’s standout moment is actually one of its quietest songs – the moody “Desire,” which sounds like a modern take on Joy Division and The Cure.
Speaking to the album’s title, bassist Conor Deegan said the band always had a sense of idealism and romance, but each album gets further away from observing that through the lens of Ireland, like their debut, 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.”
As this album proves, romance is clearly evolving and changing, as the band finds themselves with their most musically and lyrically experimental record yet.
