Fontaines D.C. will let loose their sophomore album, A Hero’s Death, on July 31st through Partisan Records. As a preview of the follow-up to 2019’s warmly received Dogrel, the post-punk outfit has today unveiled the album’s title track.
The forthcoming collection spans a total of 11 songs, produced by Dogrel collaborator Dan Carey (black midi, Bat for Lashes) in his London studio. Whereas the Dublin group’s debut LP bristled with rambunctious and undeterred post-punk, A Hero’s Death is described as a more restrained affair, one that puts an emphasis on patient “spectral balladry.” To tap into this kind of energy during the songwriting process, Fontaines D.C. found inspiration in Leonard Cohen and The Beach Boys, as well as contemporaries like Beach House.
The new album is said to ruminate on the present day and all of its unknowns, including the state of one’s mental health, which is the focus of “A Hero’s Death”. According to frontman Grian Chatten, the lead single was written “during a time where I felt consumed by the need to write something else to alleviate the fear that I would never be able follow up Dogrel. But more broadly it’s about the battle between happiness and depression, and the trust issues that can form tied to both of those feelings.”
Editors’ Picks
Check out “A Hero’s Death” below via its official music video, which stars Aidan Gillen, a.ka. “Littlefinger” from Game of Thrones. Also find Chatten’s full statement on the single and visual under the clip.
“The song is a list of rules for the self, they’re principles for self-prescribed happiness that can often hang by a thread. It’s ostensibly a positive message, but with repetition comes different meanings, that’s what happens to mantras when you test them over and over. There’s this balance between sincerity and insincerity as the song goes on and you see that in the music video as well. That’s why there’s a lot of shifting from major key to minor key. The idea was influenced by a lot of the advertising I was seeing – the repetitive nature of these uplifting messages that take on a surreal and scary feel the more you see them. ”
A Hero’s Death Artwork:
<img data-attachment-id="1033392" data-permalink="https://consequenceofsound.net/2020/05/fontaines-dc-a-heros-death-new-album-single/fontaines-dc-a-heros-death-album-artwork-cover/" data-orig-file="https://consequenceofsound.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/fontaines-dc-a-heros-death-album-artwork-cover.jpg?quality=80" data-orig-size="1000,1000" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"0"}" data-image-title="fontaines-dc-a-heros-death-album-artwork-cover" data-image-description="
fontaines-dc-a-heros-death-album-artwork-cover
” data-medium-file=”https://consequenceofsound.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/fontaines-dc-a-heros-death-album-artwork-cover.jpg?quality=80&w=300″ data-large-file=”https://consequenceofsound.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/fontaines-dc-a-heros-death-album-artwork-cover.jpg?quality=80&w=806″ class=”aligncenter size-full wp-image-1033392″ src=”https://consequenceofsound.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/fontaines-dc-a-heros-death-album-artwork-cover.jpg?quality=80″ alt=”fontaines dc a heros death album artwork cover Fontaines D.C. Announce New Album, Share A Heros Death: Stream” width=”806″ height=”806″ srcset=”https://consequenceofsound.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/fontaines-dc-a-heros-death-album-artwork-cover.jpg 1000w, https://consequenceofsound.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/fontaines-dc-a-heros-death-album-artwork-cover.jpg?resize=800,800 800w, https://consequenceofsound.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/fontaines-dc-a-heros-death-album-artwork-cover.jpg?resize=300,300 300w, https://consequenceofsound.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/fontaines-dc-a-heros-death-album-artwork-cover.jpg?resize=768,768 768w, https://consequenceofsound.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/fontaines-dc-a-heros-death-album-artwork-cover.jpg?resize=350,350 350w, https://consequenceofsound.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/fontaines-dc-a-heros-death-album-artwork-cover.jpg?resize=807,807 807w, https://consequenceofsound.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/fontaines-dc-a-heros-death-album-artwork-cover.jpg?resize=123,123 123w, https://consequenceofsound.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/fontaines-dc-a-heros-death-album-artwork-cover.jpg?resize=150,150 150w, https://consequenceofsound.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/fontaines-dc-a-heros-death-album-artwork-cover.jpg?resize=210,210 210w, https://consequenceofsound.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/fontaines-dc-a-heros-death-album-artwork-cover.jpg?resize=250,250 250w, https://consequenceofsound.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/fontaines-dc-a-heros-death-album-artwork-cover.jpg?resize=189,189 189w, https://consequenceofsound.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/fontaines-dc-a-heros-death-album-artwork-cover.jpg?resize=100,100 100w, https://consequenceofsound.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/fontaines-dc-a-heros-death-album-artwork-cover.jpg?resize=50,50 50w, https://consequenceofsound.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/fontaines-dc-a-heros-death-album-artwork-cover.jpg?resize=80,80 80w, https://consequenceofsound.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/fontaines-dc-a-heros-death-album-artwork-cover.jpg?resize=380,380 380w, https://consequenceofsound.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/fontaines-dc-a-heros-death-album-artwork-cover.jpg?resize=398,398 398w, https://consequenceofsound.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/fontaines-dc-a-heros-death-album-artwork-cover.jpg?resize=400,400 400w” sizes=”(max-width: 806px) 100vw, 806px”><img data-attachment-id="1033392" data-permalink="https://consequenceofsound.net/2020/05/fontaines-dc-a-heros-death-new-album-single/fontaines-dc-a-heros-death-album-artwork-cover/" data-orig-file="https://consequenceofsound.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/fontaines-dc-a-heros-death-album-artwork-cover.jpg?quality=80" data-orig-size="1000,1000" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"0"}" data-image-title="fontaines-dc-a-heros-death-album-artwork-cover" data-image-description="
fontaines-dc-a-heros-death-album-artwork-cover
” data-medium-file=”https://consequenceofsound.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/fontaines-dc-a-heros-death-album-artwork-cover.jpg?quality=80&w=300″ data-large-file=”https://consequenceofsound.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/fontaines-dc-a-heros-death-album-artwork-cover.jpg?quality=80&w=806″ class=”aligncenter size-full wp-image-1033392″ src=”https://consequenceofsound.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/fontaines-dc-a-heros-death-album-artwork-cover.jpg?quality=80″ alt=”fontaines dc a heros death album artwork cover Fontaines D.C. Announce New Album, Share A Heros Death: Stream” width=”806″ height=”806″ data-lazy-srcset=”https://consequenceofsound.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/fontaines-dc-a-heros-death-album-artwork-cover.jpg 1000w, https://consequenceofsound.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/fontaines-dc-a-heros-death-album-artwork-cover.jpg?resize=800,800 800w, https://consequenceofsound.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/fontaines-dc-a-heros-death-album-artwork-cover.jpg?resize=300,300 300w, https://consequenceofsound.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/fontaines-dc-a-heros-death-album-artwork-cover.jpg?resize=768,768 768w, https://consequenceofsound.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/fontaines-dc-a-heros-death-album-artwork-cover.jpg?resize=350,350 350w, https://consequenceofsound.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/fontaines-dc-a-heros-death-album-artwork-cover.jpg?resize=807,807 807w, https://consequenceofsound.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/fontaines-dc-a-heros-death-album-artwork-cover.jpg?resize=123,123 123w, https://consequenceofsound.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/fontaines-dc-a-heros-death-album-artwork-cover.jpg?resize=150,150 150w, https://consequenceofsound.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/fontaines-dc-a-heros-death-album-artwork-cover.jpg?resize=210,210 210w, https://consequenceofsound.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/fontaines-dc-a-heros-death-album-artwork-cover.jpg?resize=250,250 250w, https://consequenceofsound.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/fontaines-dc-a-heros-death-album-artwork-cover.jpg?resize=189,189 189w, https://consequenceofsound.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/fontaines-dc-a-heros-death-album-artwork-cover.jpg?resize=100,100 100w, https://consequenceofsound.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/fontaines-dc-a-heros-death-album-artwork-cover.jpg?resize=50,50 50w, https://consequenceofsound.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/fontaines-dc-a-heros-death-album-artwork-cover.jpg?resize=80,80 80w, https://consequenceofsound.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/fontaines-dc-a-heros-death-album-artwork-cover.jpg?resize=380,380 380w, https://consequenceofsound.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/fontaines-dc-a-heros-death-album-artwork-cover.jpg?resize=398,398 398w, https://consequenceofsound.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/fontaines-dc-a-heros-death-album-artwork-cover.jpg?resize=400,400 400w” data-lazy-sizes=”https://consequenceofsound.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/fontaines-dc-a-heros-death-album-artwork-cover.jpg 1000w, https://consequenceofsound.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/fontaines-dc-a-heros-death-album-artwork-cover.jpg?resize=800,800 800w, https://consequenceofsound.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/fontaines-dc-a-heros-death-album-artwork-cover.jpg?resize=300,300 300w, https://consequenceofsound.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/fontaines-dc-a-heros-death-album-artwork-cover.jpg?resize=768,768 768w, https://consequenceofsound.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/fontaines-dc-a-heros-death-album-artwork-cover.jpg?resize=350,350 350w, https://consequenceofsound.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/fontaines-dc-a-heros-death-album-artwork-cover.jpg?resize=807,807 807w, https://consequenceofsound.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/fontaines-dc-a-heros-death-album-artwork-cover.jpg?resize=123,123 123w, https://consequenceofsound.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/fontaines-dc-a-heros-death-album-artwork-cover.jpg?resize=150,150 150w, https://consequenceofsound.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/fontaines-dc-a-heros-death-album-artwork-cover.jpg?resize=210,210 210w, https://consequenceofsound.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/fontaines-dc-a-heros-death-album-artwork-cover.jpg?resize=250,250 250w, https://consequenceofsound.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/fontaines-dc-a-heros-death-album-artwork-cover.jpg?resize=189,189 189w, https://consequenceofsound.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/fontaines-dc-a-heros-death-album-artwork-cover.jpg?resize=100,100 100w, https://consequenceofsound.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/fontaines-dc-a-heros-death-album-artwork-cover.jpg?resize=50,50 50w, https://consequenceofsound.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/fontaines-dc-a-heros-death-album-artwork-cover.jpg?resize=80,80 80w, https://consequenceofsound.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/fontaines-dc-a-heros-death-album-artwork-cover.jpg?resize=380,380 380w, https://consequenceofsound.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/fontaines-dc-a-heros-death-album-artwork-cover.jpg?resize=398,398 398w, https://consequenceofsound.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/fontaines-dc-a-heros-death-album-artwork-cover.jpg?resize=400,400 400w”>
A Hero’s Death Tracklist:
01. I Don’t Belong
02. Love Is The Main Thing
03. Televised Mind
04. A Lucid Dream
05. You Said
06. Oh Such A Spring
07. A Hero’s Death
08. Living In America
09. I Was Not Born
10. Sunny
11. No
Revisit Fontaines D.C.’s appearance on Kyle Meredith With… from 2019.
Listen via Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Google Play | Stitcher | Radio Public
