Following a year in which Fontaines D.C.‘s album ‘Romance’ almost universally featured in critics’ favourite albums of 2024, the Irish band has just released its brand new single ‘It’s Amazing To Be Young’, and things are just getting exponentially better. And while I still steadfastly maintain debut single ‘Boys From The Betterland’ to be one of the singles of the past decade, Fontaines D.C. have proven themselves to be maestros of growth and development, never content to revisit past work and consistently willing to explore new creative sounds.
In ‘It’s Amazing To Be Young’, singer Grian Chatten’s voice is enigmatic and thrilling, deep and sonorous – introducing a lot more cadence and variety in his delivery – and chiming guitars ring out as the song ebbs and flows. The end has a flickering wobbly conclusion – crackly and off kilter. It’s an anthemic track – indie pop of the highest order.
Conor Deegan III says of the track:
‘It’s Amazing To Be Young’ is a song that was written in the presence of a newborn child – Carlos’ child. It sounded more like a lullaby or a music box then, but with the same lyric- “it’s amazing to be young”. The feeling of hope a child can give is profound and moving, especially for young men like us. That sense of wanting to create a world for them to grow up in happily. It’s a feeling that fights against the cynicism that can often overtake us in the modern world. So we wanted to declare which side we were on – it really is amazing to be young. We are still free, and want to make that feeling spread. We want to protect it for the others around us, and maybe in doing that, can also help protect it for ourselves.”
The single is accompanied by a video from acclaimed BAFTA-winning filmmaker Luna Carmoon (Hoard, Shagbands), who previously directed the videos for Fontaines D.C.’s ‘Here’s The Thing’ and ‘In The Modern World’. ‘It’s Amazing To Be Young’ completes the cinematic trilogy, bringing together ‘In The Modern World’’s Martin (Ewan Mitchell) and ‘Here’s The Thing”s Spider (Grace Collender) in an unlikely but beautifully surreal love story.
The band says of the video:
The video for this song was directed by one of our favourite collaborators Luna Carmoon. Luna has a very visual ear and found a way to bring out the world of our songs, somehow making the feelings more clear and more dreamlike at the same time. This video in particular has many special moments, but I think the way it unifies the different characters together is brilliant, because it embodies the message of not just the song but the album- youth is magical, and stories can become interwoven unexpectedly and feel like worlds colliding. That is youth, that is young love, and I think oftentimes that is romance.
It’s a stunning accompaniment:
You can download and save the new single here and through the link below.
In the meantime, Fontaines D.C.’s seven-date Australia tour kicks off in Perth 27th February, with all dates on final tickets or sold out, tickets are available to purchase here.
Feature Photograph: Peter Smith
