There’s just not a whole lot to be excited about these days, but there is a new Fontaines D.C. record fast on the way to help soundtrack our collective malaise. The Dublin dynamo drop fifth studio album Dopamine Chamber in a fortnight’s time, produced by James Ford and out October 16 via XL Recordings (for those of us here in the States), and this week serve up a visceral new single in “Tongue.” The lads have given no real insight into the song’s meaning, and offered a look inside the record alongside last month’s “Marianne”, but there are some interesting production elements provided by the press release, and in the interest of time, space, and accuracy, we’re going to relay them here: “Conor Deegan created the slouchy bass by manipulating tape speed — a technique often used by Prince — evoking the loose, pitched character of sampled hip-hop bass. Carlos O’Connell pushed Grain Chatten’s vocal through a sampler, distorting its pitch until it resembles a malicious extraterrestrial voice. Guitars screech, piano bellows and strings and orchestration gradually break apart the track’s stoic façade. The result is one of Dopamine Chamber’s most visceral songs.” Works for us. Count down the remaining days and view the John Angus Stewart-directed video, shot in New York City, as we anticipate more from a band perhaps no more reflective of our disjointed and jilted life in 2026.
Photo Credit: Ewen Spencer