Fontaines D.C. have announced their fourth album, Romance, which is slated for release on August 23 via XL Recordings. The follow-up to 2022’s Skinty Fia was made with producer James Ford. Lead single ‘Starbuster’ arrives today with a music video directed by Aube Perrie. Check it out below, and scroll down for the album cover and tracklist.
“We’ve always had this sense of idealism and romance,” guitarist Conor Deegan shared in a statement. “Each album gets further away from observing that through the lens of Ireland, as directly as (Mercury Prize-nominated debut) Dogrel. The second album (the GRAMMY-nominated A Hero’s Death) is about that detachment, and the third (Skinty Fia) is about Irishness dislocated in the diaspora. Now we look to where and what else there is to be romantic about.”
Drawing a line between the album’s themes and Katsuhiro Ôtomo’s anime Akira, singer Grian Chatten elaborated: “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. 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.”
“We say things on this record we’ve wanted to say for a long time,” Chatten added. “I never feel like it’s over, but it’s nice to feel lighter.”
Romance Cover Artwork:
Romance Tracklist:
1. Romance
2. Starburster
3. Here’s The Thing
4. Desire
5. In The Modern World
6. Bug
7. Motorcycle Bo
8. Sundowner
9. Horseness is the Whatness
10. Death Kink
11. Favourite
