Fontaines D.C.

Fontaines D.C. formed in Dublin in 2017, five art-school friends who had been writing poetry together before they picked up instruments. That literary foundation is audible in everything they do — Grian Chatten's lyrics are dense, allusive, and rooted in a very specific vision of Dublin that feels both hyperlocal and universal.

'Dogrel' (2019) arrived like a statement of intent. Produced by Dan Carey, it was raw, urgent, and completely assured — a record that sounded like it had been waiting to exist. 'Big' and 'Boys in the Better Land' announced a band who understood exactly what they were doing. The Mercury Prize nomination confirmed what anyone paying attention already knew.

'A Hero's Death' (2020) was the difficult second album done right — slower, more atmospheric, more uncertain. Where 'Dogrel' was a sprint, this was a long walk through fog. The title track is one of the great mantras of recent years: 'I don't belong to anyone / I don't belong to anyone.'

'Skinty Fia' (2022) was their masterpiece — a record about Irish identity, displacement, and the weight of history. Recorded in Paris, it felt like the work of a band who had fully grown into their ambitions. The title, an Irish phrase meaning 'the damnation of the deer', set the tone perfectly.

'Romance' (2024) pushed further into electronic textures and stadium-scale production without losing the intensity that defines them. They are one of the few bands of their generation who seem genuinely capable of getting bigger without getting worse.