Romance by Fontaines D.C. | Album Review
As Bizarre, And As Experimental As It Gets — 4th Studio Album By Fontaines is their best yet.
LISTEN TO Romance: APPLE MUSIC | SPOTIFY
A year ago, I made my first public statement about Fontaines D.C. It was when I reviewed their third studio album, Skinty Fia, that I realized how much I like this band. If you never heard about Fontaines D.C. before, don’t worry, I got you.
Fontaines D.C. is an Irish, post-punk, and also gothic rock band with a leading vocalist in the face of Grian Chatten. The band formed closer to 2014, and since then it took them 5 years to strike the world with their debut Dogrel.
With their last 3 records, I noticed a huge tendency about Fontaines albums is that they are extremely Irish.
Fontaines, whether through their album cover for Skinty Fia, which hints at the extinct Irish elk, or their longing for Ireland, have always made it clear: “HEY WE ARE IRISH”.
However, this time, on Romance, they take a different approach.
Romance is the 4th studio album from the band that is their most experimental, progressive, and interesting yet. After hearing the 1st single to the record “Starbuster”, I was left with nothing but a shock, and the band confirmed their intention in an Apple Music interview:
It is probably the song that is furthest away from the old us on this album.
This tune was the first single and we always try and shock people a bit.
It’s fun to do that.
Inspired by the definite hip-hop elements, “Starbuster” was all over the place with its drive, psychedelia, and weirdness. An absolutely different approach to the song with the lack of predictability made this one of my favorite songs of this year.
Fontaines professionally combined their post-punk grunge atmosphere and incorporated it into something more artistic and fresh.
While still in the post-punk realm, this album takes a significant step from their previous style with amazing execution. Whether it’s the lively indie rock track “Here’s the Thing” or the poignant melody of “Desire,” their sound is invigorating due to the new tone of darkness that radiates more light.
Romance is not a psychedelic rock record, as it was promoted, rather it still has more indie-rock feel to it.
It might have some trippy build-up like on “Motorcycle Boy” or heart-wrenching and ominous instruments on “Romance” album still opts for a more raw and straightforward sound. Like on “Bug,” we have a vibrant guitar accompaniment that transitions to even more lively drums that sound prominent, but minimalistic.
I believe the record has more feel to shoegaze than to psychedelic rock. “Sundowner”, for example, is an obvious case of shoegaze, because of the more echoing background vocals that haunt you throughout the track.
Clearly, I can talk forever about the different aspects of rock on this album as it displays how multi-faceted it is. It is truly the creative peak of Fontaines D.C., and I see that their decision to step away from Dan Carey to James Ford was brilliant.
The album is extremely short and clocks out at 37 minutes, ending with the 11th track “Favourite”. Ironically, “Favourite” is my least favorite track on the album, as I feel kind of skeptical about their transition from “Death Kink” and the overall end of the album. According to the band, you have to go through the journey from darkness to light. However, I rather experienced mood swings than the intended trip.
The most important aspect of why this record is the best Fontaines have ever made is the vocals by Grian Chatten, which are as groovy, as gloomy. Here, he finds himself in a new place that completely spirals out your previous impressions. Grian shocks me with the way he can go from completely mournful singing to exploding delivery in seconds.
To sum it up, Romance is amazing. It is as brilliant and straightforward as it is. While I do wish they had delved deeper into the soundscape of “Starbuster”, this record still stands as an artistic masterpiece. I give this album proudly a solid 9.4/10.
FINAL RATING: 9.4/10 ( AMAZING )
FAVORITE TRACKS: “Starbuster”, “Romance”, “Desire”
LEAST FAVORITE TRACK: “Favourite”
Scores guideline:
0–2 (dramatically bad)
2.1–4.5 (bad)
4.6–6 (mediocre/mid)
6.1–6.9 (Ok)
7–7.5 (good)
7.6–8.6 (great)
8.7–9.9 (amazing)
10 (perfect)
