Fontaines D.C. return with their third record: “Skinty Fia”. Used colloquially as an expletive, the title roughly translates from the Irish language into English as “the damnation of the deer”; the spelling crassly anglicized, and its meaning diluted through generations. Part bittersweet romance, part darkly political triumph – the songs ultimately form a long-distance love letter, one that laments an increasingly privatized culture in danger of going the way of the extinct Irish giant deer.
Rising Irish stars Fontaines D.C. are all over the place after releasing their sublime third LP “Skinty Fia” recently, that went straight to the top of the UK Albums Chart.
After their unbridled introduction to the world with their five-star debut LP, the Fontaines slowed down for a couple of songs on their 2nd full length, and on the new one the overall atmosphere – musically and lyrically – is moony, mellow and pensive with frontman Grian Chatten becoming a modern-day crooner who touches sensitive hearts, especially Irish ones as this album is about their Irish past/present/future identity in and outside (they never have been away for so long, for some many times) of their beloved country. It takes time to get used to their new approach. But I’m sure it will be worth it in the end.
The Guardian (British newspaper) says: “Their third album comes wrapped in a sleeve featuring a nervous-looking deer in the hallway of a home, its title derives from a Gaelic expression of exasperation, and it variously picks at topics of addiction, relationships and
the notion of Irishness as viewed through the lens of the Irish diaspora… Skinty Fia feels more measured and reflective. It boasts few examples of their punky full-pelt approach. Its default rhythmic setting is slow; its guitars feel echoey and cavernous – even shoegaze-y on churning closer Nabokov – rather than urgent and in your face… They boldly embrace a state of confusion.”
Fontaines D.C. performs on Saturday Sessions. It’s been quite a ride for the post-punk band. They’re the first Irish act since U2 to be nominated for best rock album at the Grammy Awards. Their latest collection just debuted at No. 1 on the U.K. charts. For Saturday Sessions, Fontaines D.C. performs “Liberty Belle.”
The punk band’s third album homes in on the experience of being an Irish person living in England — and all the trials, tribulations, and culture clashes inherent in that reality. It’s also just a straight-ahead, powerful rock & roll record packed with James Joyce references, accordion (yes, really), and Nineties alternative angst. “’Skinty Fia’ is an expression that our drummer’s great auntie used to say,” the band’s Grian Chatten told Rolling Stone. “It sounds like mutation and doom and inevitability and all these things that I felt were congruous to my idea of Irishness abroad. … It’s just a completely new beast.
Released in 2022 via Partisan Records.
The Fat Angel Sings 