Fontaines D.C.’s Dopamine Chamber review – the dream you never want to wake from
Featured image: Fontaines D.C.
With the major success of their fourth studio album, Romance, Fontaines D.C. frontman and vocalist, Grian Chattan found himself at a crossroads. “One of the fundamental questions I felt like asking myself was, do we want to forget about Romance and kind of reinvent ourselves a little bit?”
The Dublin native’s cynicism, both lyrically and sonically, is nothing new. Reprising the gloomy, post-apocalyptic sound that the band has become infamous for, they blend it with a romantic (no pun intended), rose-tinted modulation, drawing you in like a siren song.
Opening the album Six Shot Morning pairs synth with Chatten’s gravely, unflinching baritone. The track drags you in with a synth-y, dreamlike lull. As the album progresses, each track feels like something straight out of a pleasant dream, just before a scary, ominous creature appears.
With an overarching theme of hindsight running through tracks such as Happy For You, which explores unrequited heartbreak and a longing for some you no longer have, the band tap into their past selves with a sound reminiscent of their sophomore album, A Hero’s Death.
Teaming up with Spanish pop icon Rosalía on the haunting track Where Is Gone?, guitarist Carlos O’Connell, who is of Spanish heritage, expressed his excitement about the collaboration and a sense of homecoming. He said: “What really excited me was how she was keeping a Spanish tradition of music alive, which in a spiritual way felt akin to what we’ve tried to do with Irish music.”
As the album lulls you towards its conclusion, it feels as though you’re beginning to wake from the dream sequence. You’re suddenly snapped back to reality by the uptick tempo of You Miss Me. Almost contradicting the subject matter of Happy For You, Chatten croons almost smug confidence, as if he had been expecting your arrival.
Japan charters a romantic exploration of a mysterious “her”. With its acoustic, light-hearted air and synthesised textures carrying the track, the major chord progression evokes walking among the clouds.
The album ends on a starkly contrasting note with the words “Dying and dying and dying and dead” in Intimate. Acting as a wake-up alarm, the track jolts us back to reality, unlocking the door to the Dopamine Chamber.
Dopamine Chamber is available on XL Records and in stores now.
Fontaines D.C embark on a world tour starting in October. Tickets on sale now via Ticketmaster.
