Fontaines D.C. have just unveiled ‘Favourite,’ the second single from their eagerly awaited fourth album, ‘ROMANCE,’ set to drop on August 23rd via XL Recordings / Remote Control. This latest release is a tantalizing glimpse into what promises to be a landmark record for the band.
The ‘Favourite’ music video, self-directed by Fontaines D.C., captures a recent trip to Madrid—a city brimming with personal significance for the band. Guitarist Carlos O’Connell’s birthplace and childhood home, Madrid also served as the launching pad for their first tour. Interspersed with nostalgic childhood footage of all five members, the video offers an intimate and uplifting glimpse into the band’s journey, right as they prepare for their next big leap.
“This video is a reminiscing of the past – of each other’s childhoods we didn’t know. To see people we know on an intimate level as adults in the tender ages of childhood, we explore where we came from, and who on some level, still are. I see a lot of familiar faces being pulled, and the antics these lads are undertaking in their videos are so disarming and vulnerable to see. I am at times reminded of boyish mannerisms that they’ve grown out of in the time I’ve known them – and some that they haven’t. I feel their souls there. I would like this video to serve as a way of honouring our friendships, and moving from that, the relationships we hold dear. Our mothers, fathers, siblings, aunties and uncles, grandmothers and grandfathers. Those who we still have, and those we have sadly lost. We haven’t lost that connection to each other, and are not afraid to come of age again, holding on to romance in a sometimes trying world.”
Conor Deegan
‘ROMANCE’ marks Fontaines D.C.’s most ambitious and expansive album yet, with its 11 tracks weaving together ideas that have been simmering among Grian Chatten (vocals), Carlos O’Connell (guitar), Conor Curley (guitar), Conor Deegan (bass), and Tom Coll (drums) since the release of ‘Skinty Fia’ in 2022. The band’s sonic evolution, from their early, punk-infused grit, now ascends into grungier breaks, dystopian electronica, hip-hop rhythms, and ethereal Slowdive-esque textures that may surprise their fans. The shoegaze elements first hinted at on ‘Skinty Fia’ blossom on ‘ROMANCE’ like a darkening bruise, but any hint of a “retro aesthetic,” as Chatten puts it, is firmly left behind.
Stream ‘Favourite’ HERE.
Pre-save or Pre-order ‘Romance’ HERE.
