It's already being hailed one of 2024's best albums and for good reason. Romance is a risky reward for Fontaines D.C.
Having lauded Dogrel (2019), as one of the best punk releases of the last decade, Fontaines D.C.’s two most recent albums didn’t quite hit as I’d hoped. By no means were A Hero’s Death (2020) or Skinty Fia (2022) bad albums, if anything, they both continued to uphold the torch as some of the best post-punk releases of recent years, although they lacked the braggadocious edge that drew me to the group’s earlier material.
Label: XL Recordings / Remote Control Records
Release Date: Out Now
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Although as a group, Fontaines D.C. have openly spoken about crafting their songs around an emotion, mood or even temperature, with album number four they ventured into a new concept: “romance is a place,” specifically the idea of finding love at the world’s end.
As you can imagine, it’s a cobwebbed and decrepit setting, introduced by opener Romance’s ominous synth arrangements, crashing symbols and grimy, industrial-goth riffs cutting and the unhinged, anxiety-inducing composition of ‘Starburster’.
‘Desire’ sees the group experimenting with mixing techniques, powerfully characterising the track around building snare patterns which bleed against the songs overlapping vocal harmonies – as if each line is fighting for your attention behind walls of echoing percussion.
‘In the Modern World’ delves into cinematic composition with its simmering, angsty riffs, breathy vocals, and deep orchestral crescendos, while ‘Bug’ subtly creates an environment through a duality of electric and acoustic guitars.
Considering Fontaines D.C. are currently at the height of their career, venturing into industrial goth-rock is a pretty ballsy move, but god damn, it’s fun to hear them taking risks again.
Listen to Romance by Fontaines D.C. here
