In the Modern World

“There are very few bands of NOW that I actually adore and keep coming back to. Two of them are Fontaines D.C. and Wolf Alice (more on the latter later.) Most of the groups I love are on their 6th or 7th record and came out in the early aughts (hello Arctic Monkeys). I don't feel either FDC or Wolf Alice get enough credit stateside, so here I am! In fact, Arctic Monkeys are actually how I discovered these Irish fellows back in 2023, as the opener on their The Car tour. I was immediately taken with frontman and lead singer Grian Chatten's movements on stage, not so jokingly telling my now husband that there was a certain Liam Gallagher to his confidence, but in a much different way than LG himself. I became enamored with FDC in early 2024 when they dropped "Starburster" a motherfucker of a song actually inspired by a panic attack that Chatten had (we get it, luv). Then came "Favourite" and their full fourth record, Romance. Chatten is also incredibly prolific and an incredible songwriter, having done his own solo record between all of his FDC duties and songs for the soundtrack of Cillian Murphy's recent Peaky film. (He's a massive fan.) Fast forward 3 years later, and Fontaines D.C. are back with Dopamine Chamber, out 10/16. Their first single is "Marianne," with Suspiria-esque kaleidoscopic artwork by the incredible photographer Elizaveta Porodina (who also did the main cover). The song is drawing comparisons to Depeche Mode, and feels like it could live easily in the early '80s Anglo music scene. The boys have been experimenting with a darker tone since their B side "Before You I Just Forget" (one of my absolute favorites) and admittedly been through some shitty stuff (their longtime manager passed in June) and I'm interested to see how this mood takes shape. But in the words of Carrie Fisher, take a broken heart and turn it into art, right? The track itself features gorgeous synthesizers, bells, a killer baseline and excellent drums by the band's secret weapon, Tom Coll, and Chatten perhaps taking vocal inspiration from one George Clanton, which we love. If I have one true recommendation, play loud! They also released a version of it from Maida Vale (the very last session to take place their ever, also) on BBC 6.”