FONTAINES D.C. Release New Single ‘Here’s The Thing’ From Forthcoming Album ‘ROMANCE’

Fontaines D.C. release Here’s The Thing, the third single revealed from their highly anticipated fourth album ROMANCE, out August 23rd via XL Recordings / Remote Control Records.

Here’s The Thing was written days before the band entered the studio to record the album. It leads with the mechanical, mutant guitar sounds of Placebo and the electronic expressiveness of Shygirl and Eartheater. “It’s an anxious tune that twists and turns in what it wants, back and forth between pain and numbness,” Grian Chatten describes. It’s an urgent song, searching for autonomy in emotional extremes.

The accompanying cinematic music video directed by lauded filmmaker Luna Carmoon (Hoard, Shagbands, Nosebleed) perfectly encapsulates the song’s intense feelings and paranoia. Channeling the essence of teen-horror films like The Lost Boys and Phenomena, Here’s The Thing video immerses us in a traditional Irish Dancing competition, where chaos triumphs, unraveling through Carmoon’s uniquely haunting lens. Fontaines D.C. and Luna discuss the video in an interview with DAZED.

In April, Fontaines D.C. released the bombastic first track from the new album, Starburster to international acclaim in April, with the song already declared the best of 2024 so far by Rolling Stone and Consequence, and performed it live for the very first time on The Tonight Show starring Jimmy Fallon. The GRAMMY-nominated Irish band will tour extensively across Europe and North America throughout 2024, featuring multiple sold out shows and extra dates added due to demand (including two nights at London’s 10,000 capacity Alexandra Palace).

ROMANCE is Fontaines D.C.s most ambitious, expansive record yet, its 11 tracks constellating ideas that have been percolating among Grian Chatten (vocals), Carlos O’Connell (guitar), Conor Curley (guitar), Conor Deegan (bass), and Tom Coll (drums) since they released Skinty Fia in 2022. The sonic evolution of the band, who bared their teeth in early records with antagonistic punk sensibilities, is an ascent into grungier breaks, dystopian electronica, hip-hop percussion, and dreamy Slowdive-esque textures that may surprise fans. The shoegaze touch points first pressed on Skinty Fia unfold on ROMANCE like a purpling bruise. But any “retro aesthetic”, as Chatten describes it, is left behind. Reflecting on the impending release, Chatten says, “We say things on this record we’ve wanted to say for a long time. I never feel like it’s over, but it’s nice to feel lighter.”

Pre-save / Pre-order ROMANCE: https://fontainesdc.x-l.co/romance

Fontaines D.C. – ROMANCE

1. Romance
2. Starburster
3. Here’s The Thing
4. Desire
5. In The Modern World
6. Bug
7. Motorcycle Boy
8. Sundowner
9. Horseness is the Whatness
10. Death Kink
11. Favourite