Fontaines D.C. have invited fans inside their Dopamine Chamber, offering “mood-altering” music as they unveil their fifth studio album.
First up, the Irish band have previewed the record with Marianne, which takes some inspiration from the 2024 American neo-noir psychological thriller Ripley starring fellow Irishman Andrew Scott as the titular con artist Tom Ripley. The mini-series is based on Patricia Highsmith’s 1955 crime novel The Talented Mr. Ripley.
Fans can expect the post‑punk rockers to weigh in on everything from AI and politics to climate change and even the latest celebrity drama.
Frontman Grian Chatten said of Dopamine Chamber, which is out on October 16: “The album itself is a dopamine chamber.
“You step inside and we test these different mind or mood-altering pieces of music on you.”
Bassist Conor Deegan said: “Our albums have always questioned a sense of place.
“First Dublin, then being away from Dublin, and then trying to find the romance elsewhere. On this record, the question became: where do you escape to?”
Grian’s travels to Venice, Sicily and Vienna were his escape destinations.
The album was recorded in London, the English countryside, and Palermo in Sicily, where the singer created a makeshift vocal booth with mattresses and cushions.
Comparing Dopamine Chamber to its 2024 predecessor, Grian said: “I think Romance was maybe 60 per cent human and 40 per cent corrupted by automation, and a loss of feeling.
“This one feels more like 60 per cent corrupted – the mask is wearing the face a little more … I felt it would be more powerful to leave the hope out and reflect the ugliness honestly. This one needed to feel more like a catastrophic warning.”
This weekend, Fontaines will play Reading and Leeds Festival, providing the perfect opportunity to premiere new music.