Fontaines D.C. Release 'Roman Holiday' Ahead of New Album
Their highly anticipated new album Skinty Fia will be released on April 22.
By: Michael Major Apr. 19, 2022
Last month, Fontaines D.C. released the title track from their highly anticipated new album Skinty Fia - to be released this Friday (April 22nd) on Partisan Records, which was met with international acclaim and joined the last two singles, "I Love You" and "Jackie Down The Line," in building widespread excitement for the band's third album.
Today, the beloved Irish band - who recently took home the trophy for "Best Band In The World" at the 2022 BandLab NME Awards - released the final single to come ahead of their new album titled "Roman Holiday." The track was premiered by Zane Lowe alongside an interview with the band on his Apple Music 1 show and was also featured on New Music Daily.
A texturally nuanced yet intense final preview of the band's new material ahead of Skinty Fia's release, "Roman Holiday," sees frontman Grian Chatten reflect on his experiences of moving to London and embracing the city as an Irish person in the local diaspora. The single sees the band delving further into the album's poignant themes surrounding identity and belonging, with the lyrics celebrating the camaraderie found in the community of Irish people and friends that the band have found for themselves.
Speaking on the single, Chatten says, "Roman Holiday makes me think of the wide streets of north London in the Summer and the urge to discover them at night time. The thrill of being a gang of Irish people in London with a bit of a secret language and my first flat with my girlfriend."
Skinty Fia is an Irish phrase which translates to English as "the damnation of the deer" and the album's cover art features a deer, plucked from its natural habitat and deposited in the hallway of a home, illuminated by an artificial red glow. The Irish giant deer is an extinct species and the band's thoughts on Irish identity are central to Skinty Fia.
While Dogrel was littered with snapshots of the Dublin characters - like the cabbie in "Boys In The Better Land" - and A Hero's Death documented the dislocation and disconnection the band felt as they travelled the globe on tour, on Skinty Fia Fontaines D.C. are addressing their Irishness from afar as they recreate new lives for themselves elsewhere. For a band whose hometown courses through their veins - "D.C." stands for "Dublin City" - the album finds them trying to resolve the need to broaden their horizons with the affection they still feel for the land and people they've left behind.
There are echoes of Dogrel's rumbustious rock 'n' roll, and the bleaker atmospheres of A Hero's Death, but Skinty Fia, the third in the triumvirate, is much more expansive and cinematic. Fontaines D.C. are a band in a state of constant evolution and this time the result is an album of shifting moods, startling insight, maturity, and considerable emotional wallop.
In the band's first US tour run since 2019, many of the dates have been sold out or upgraded (get tickets HERE). These shows come ahead of an extensive run of festival appearances including the band's return to Glastonbury Festival, a headline slot on the BBC Sounds stage at Latitude Festival, as well a main stage appearance at Reading & Leeds Festivals, a Future Sounds stage performance at BBC Radio 1's Big Weekend and a return to Los Angeles in September for Primavera Sound.
The band will also play an extensive UK / IE headline tour later this year in Nov / Dec 2022, with many further dates being added due to popular demand, including a third date at Eventim Apollo in London.
Listen to the new single here:
Tour Dates
APRIL 2022
Thu-Apr-21 - Washington, D.C. @ 9:30 Club [SOLD OUT]
Fri-Apr-22 - Philadelphia, PA @ Underground Arts [SOLD OUT]
Sat-Apr-23 - Asbury Park, NJ @ Wonder Bar [SOLD OUT]
Mon-Apr-25 - Boston, MA @ Paradise Rock Club [SOLD OUT]
Tues-Apr-26 - Brooklyn, NY @ Brooklyn Steel [SOLD OUT]
Wed-Apr-27 - Brooklyn, NY @ Brooklyn Steel
Fri-Apr-29 - Columbus, OH @ Newport Music Hall [SOLD OUT]
Sat-Apr-30 - Cleveland, OH @ The Beachland Ballroom
MAY 2022
Mon-May-2 - Montreal, QC @ Corona Theatre
Tue-May-3 - Toronto, ON @ The Phoenix
Thu-May-5 - Detroit, MI @ Magic Stick
Fri-May-6 - Chicago, IL @ The Vic Theatre
Sat-May-7 - Minneapolis, MN @ First Avenue
Mon-May-9 - Denver, CO @ Ogden Theatre [venue upgrade]
Tue-May-10 - Salt Lake City, UT @ Soundwell
Thu-May-12 - Portland, OR @ Revolution Hall
Fri-May-13 - Vancouver, BC @ Rickshaw Theatre [SOLD OUT]
Sat-May-14 - Seattle, WA @ Showbox SoDo
Mon-May-16 - San Francisco, CA @ The Regency Ballroom
Wed-May-18 - Los Angeles, CA @ The Regent Theater [SOLD OUT]
Thurs-May-19 - Los Angeles, CA @ The Regent Theater [SOLD OUT]
JUNE 2022
Fri-June-3 - Barcelona, Spain @ Primavera Sound
Mon-June-6 - Lyon, France @ Le Transbordeur
Tue-June-7 - Bologna, Italy @ Arena Puccini
Wed-June-8 - Milan, Italy @ Un Altro Festival
Fri-June-10 - Neuchâtel, Switzerland @ Festi' Neuch
Sat-June-11 - Hilvarenbeek, Netherlands @ Best Kept Secret Festival
Sun-June-12 - Berlin, Germany @ Templehof Sounds
Mon-Jun-13 - Warsaw, Poland @ Proxima
Wed-June-15 - Athens, Greece @ Release Festival with Nick Cave
Fri-June-17 - Scheeßel, Germany @ Hurricane Festival
Sat-June-18 - Neuhausen ob Eck, Germany @ Southside Festival
Mon-June-20 - Zagreb, Croatia @ InMusic Festival
Sun-June-24-26 - Shepton Mallet, UK @ Glastonbury Music Festival
Wed-June-29 - Roskilde, Denmark @ Roskilde Festival
Thur-June-30 - Werchter, Belgium @ Rock Werchter
JULY 2022
Sat-Jul-2 - Dublin, Ireland @ Iveagh Gardens [SOLD OUT]
Sun-Jul-3 - Dublin, Ireland @ Iveagh Gardens [SOLD OUT]
Wed-Jul-6 - Lisbon, Portugal @ NOS Alive Festival
Sat-Jul-8 - Lytham St. Anne's, United Kingdom @ Lytham festival
Sun-Jul-9 - Glasgow, United Kingdom @ TRNSMT
Thur-Jul-14 - Carhaix, France @ Les Vieilles Charrues
Fri-Jul-15 - London, United Kingdom @ Finsbury Park with Sam Fender
Sun-Jul-17 - Cologne, Germany @ Live Music Hall
Mon-Jul-18 - Munich, Germany @ Neue Theaterfabrik
Wed-Jul-20 - Berlin, Germany @ Astra Kulturhaus [SOLD OUT]
Thur-Jul-21 - Hamburg, Germany @ Gruenspan [SOLD OUT]
Sun-Jul-24 - Wiesbaden, Germany @ Schlachthof
AUGUST 2022
Thur-Aug-11 - Oslo, Norway @ Oya Festival
Sat-Aug-13 - Helsinki, Finland @ Flow Festival
Mon-Aug-15 - Budapest, Hungary @ Sziget Festival
Tues-Aug-16 - Padova, Italy @ Parco Della Musica
Fri-Aug 19 - Guéret - Saint-Laurent Aerodrome, France @ Check In Party
Sat-Aug-20 - Charleville-Mézières, France @ Le Cabaret Vert
Tue-Aug-23 - Stuttgart, Germany @ Longhorn
Thur-Aug-25 - Paris, France @ Rock En Seine
Sat-Aug-27 - Reading, United Kingdom @ Reading Festival
Sun-Aug-28 - Leeds, United Kingdom @ Leeds Festival
SEPTEMBER 2022
Sat-Sep-16 - Los Angeles, CA @ Primavera Sound
NOVEMBER 2022*
Mon-Nov-7 - Hull, United Kingdom @ Bonus Arena*
Tue-Nov-8 - Leeds, United Kingdom @ O2 Academy*
Fri-Nov-11 - Manchester, United Kingdom @ O2 Victoria Warehouse*
Tue-Nov-15 - Stockton, United Kingdom @ Globe*
Thur-Nov-17 - Glasgow, United Kingdom @ O2 Academy*
Sat-Nov-19 - Swansea, United Kingdom @ Swansea Arena*
Mon-Nov-21 - Birmingham, United Kingdom @ O2 Academy*
Thur-Nov-24 - London, United Kingdom @ Eventim Apollo*
Mon-Nov-28 - Edinburgh, United Kingdom @ O2 Academy*
Wed-Nov-30 - Dublin, Ireland @ Vicar Street*
Sat-Dec-3 - Galway, Ireland @ Leisureland*
Mon-Dec-5 - Limerick, Ireland @ Live At The Big Top*
Tue-Dec-6 - Derry, United Kingdom @ Millennium Forum*
Wed-Dec-7 - Belfast, United Kingdom @ Ulster Hall*
FEBRUARY 2023
Wed-Feb-1 - Sydney, Australia @ Roundhouse
Thur-Feb-2 - Brisbane, Australia @The Triffid
Tue-Feb-7 - Melbourne, Australia @ Corner Hotel
Wed-Feb-8 - Melbourne, Australia @ The Forum
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