Artist: Fontaines D.C.
Album
Skinty Fia
Label
Partisan Records
Year
2022
Skinty Fia is the highly anticipated third album from Irish post-punk band, Fontaines D.C. and a solid follow-up to the band’s 2020 release, A Hero’s Death, which was nominated for a 2021 Grammy. The 10-track album’s unique title roughly translates to “the damnation of the deer.”
A true masterpiece, the album tackles themes of urban decay and the defiant immigrant soul with newfound lyrical depth.
The first single, ‘Jackie Down The Line,’ does a stellar job of reeling the listener into a false sense of security with its light, poppy instrumentals, only to contrast the tone with ominous lyrics like “I will wear you down in time/I will hurt you/I will desert you/I am Jackie down the line”.
‘The Couple Across The Way’ paints a heart-wrenching image of a deeply fractured relationship atop an accordion section, while on the powerful and searing ‘I Love You,’ frontman Grian Chatten puts himself on trial, dissecting his own inadequacies.
‘Roman Holiday,’ offers up more poppy instrumentals with a warm nostalgic streak running through it. Lyrically, it addresses Chatten’s experiences of moving to London and what it was like embracing the city as an Irish person.
Title track ‘Skinty Fia’ is my personal favorite with its chugging hip-hop drum track, but as the lyrics come in, an unshakeable doom presents itself, “I hated you away from the very start/I’ve seen it sticking to your smile/it’s gone and broken my heart.”
The video for the song finds Chatten in the middle of a Kubrickesque party and does an excellent job of complimenting the broody, hypnotic vibe:
Conclusion:
A magnificent third album that serves as the crowning point in the band’s career. It became the band’s first album to reach number one on the UK and Irish charts. We can expect much more from this band, which excitingly, is still in its infancy.
