FONTAINES D.C.

2024 could hardly be going any better for Fontaines D.C. – with the release of their latest album “Romance”, they played on legendary festival stages in front of tens of thousands of fans this summer and are currently touring across Europe. But it all began just five years ago: The five band members Grian Chatten (vocals), Carlos O’Connell (guitar), Conor Curley (guitar), Conor Deegan (bass) and Tom Coll (drums) met at the University of Music in Dublin and soon began writing their first original songs. Their debut album “Dogrel” was released in 2019, which attracted attention with its mixture of poetic lyrics and dark post-punk sound.

On the follow-up “A Hero’s Death” in 2020, they showed a more thoughtful side and expanded their sound to include electronic elements with “Skinty Fia” (2022). The album “Romance”, released in August of this year, marks their final ascent to the world’s biggest stages. Created during a support tour for the Arctic Monkeys, each band member initially developed their ideas separately before renowned producer James Ford (Blur, Depeche Mode) brought everything together.

The result: an album that sounds more mature and international than anything before. While “Skinty Fia” still focused on life between Dublin and London, the new songs reflect the self-confidence of a band that is fully enjoying its status as global rock stars – always with a wink, of course. Echoing the aesthetic of the 90s, Fontaines D.C. play skillfully with their growing popularity. Songs such as the energetic “Starburster”, inspired by a panic attack, and the string anthem “In The Modern World”, reminiscent of Lana Del Rey, show the stylistic diversity of “Romance”: somewhere between 1990s alternative rock, gothic Americana and Britpop. Thematically, Chatten are increasingly concerned with universal feelings – from emotional pain to existential fears.

With the new album in the bag, the Irish band are currently on an almost sold-out UK and European tour before reaching a new milestone in the summer of 2025 with a concert in London’s Finsbury Park in front of 45,000 people. And only a short time later, Fontaines D.C. will return to Germany for four exclusive open-air concerts in unique venues – if you want to see the most exciting post-punk band live at the moment, you should get your tickets quickly!