Watch Fontaines D.C. debut ‘Here’s The Thing’ and brooding new song ‘In The Modern World’
Fontaines D.C. debuted their latest single ‘Here’s The Thing’ and premiered new song ‘In The Modern World’ at a gig in Slovenia this week – check out footage below.
The Irish band were playing at Kino Šiška in Ljubljana on Monday (August 12), where they incorporated the two tracks into a setlist for the first time ever.
The songs come from their highly anticipated fourth album ‘Romance’, which has been produced by James Ford and is set to be released on August 23 via XL Recordings (pre-order/pre-save here).
The band released ‘Here’s The Thing’ as one of the album’s singles earlier this month (following on from ‘Starburster’ and ‘Favourite’), complete with a horror-inspired video.
Frontman Grian Chatten has described the song as “an anxious tune that twists and turns in what it wants, back and forth between pain and numbness”. Watch the band’s debut performance of the song below:
‘In The Modern World’, meanwhile, has yet to be released, and the lucky attendees in Slovenia witnessed the song’s first official public performance.
The brooding, introspective track finds Chatten wistfully singing, “In the modern world/ I don’t feel anything/ In the modern world”, as Carlos O’Connell’s prowling stabs of guitar inject a sense of menace. Watch the song’s first ever performance here:
The band have been debuting new tracks at several recent shows, including ‘Death Kink’ earlier this month at the Haldern Pop Festival in Germany.
Chatten recently spoke to NME about the new album and the band’s current direction. “I had a lot more confidence with certain arrangements and ideas,” he said. “I fucking hate the word ‘experiment’; I’m not Frank Zappa. I was just committed to the ideas that I had. ‘Romance’, as the result of everyone’s musical journey, is our most expansive and full album.”
When NME’s Andrew Trendell suggested that ‘Here’s The Thing’ evokes a motorcycle race in a futuristic anime film, Chatten replied: “That’s what it sounds like to me. Isn’t that interesting? It doesn’t sound like the soundtrack or anything from Akira, but it evokes those images.
“I find that a much more interesting way to write than creating a Spotify playlist of guitar tones. We spoke about pigeons taking flight at dawn, the Shibuya scramble, the feeling of a million people passing by but not seeing each other in their own world, the race to work in the morning, things like that.”
Fontaines are set to be one of the major acts at next weekend’s Reading & Leeds Festivals, alongside Blink-182, Fred Again.., Liam Gallagher, Lana Del Rey, Catfish & The Bottlemen, Gerry Cinnamon, Raye and 21 Savage.
This will be followed by their 2024 UK and Ireland headline tour, which is set to take place in November and December. That stint includes two nights at Alexandra Palace in the capital.
That isn’t it for their live shows either, as the group have also unveiled news of a huge outdoor show at London’s Finsbury Park, due to take place on Saturday July 5, 2025. It will mark the Irish band’s biggest headline performance to date, with support coming from Amyl And The Sniffers and Kneecap.
Find a full list of upcoming tour dates here, and visit here for any remaining tickets.
The post Watch Fontaines D.C. debut ‘Here’s The Thing’ and brooding new song ‘In The Modern World’ appeared first on NME.
Max Pilley
NME
