# Romance (Fontaines D.C. album)
**Romance** is the fourth studio album by the Irish rock band [Fontaines D.C.](https://www.edgepedia.org/fontaines-d-c), released on 23 August 2024 through [XL Recordings](https://www.edgepedia.org/xl-recordings) and produced by James Ford.[1](https://www.xlrecordings.com/releases/romance) It is the band's first album not produced by longtime collaborator Dan Carey, and it marked a deliberate change of sound: the raw post-punk of their early records gave way to an album critics describe as drawing on Britpop, shoegaze, nu metal, synthy gothic pop, and string-laden balladry.[2](https://guitar.com/features/interviews/fontaines-dc-conor-curley-interview-romance/) • [3](https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/fontaines-dc-romance/) The record was met with broad critical acclaim and ranked first in [Le Monde](https://www.edgepedia.org/le-monde)'s list of favorite albums of 2024.[4](https://www.metacritic.com/music/romance/fontaines-dc/critic-reviews) • [5](https://www.lemonde.fr/en/culture/article/2024/12/30/le-monde-s-favorite-albums-of-2024_6736557_30.html)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Released | 23 August 2024, XL Recordings (catalog XL1436)[1](https://www.xlrecordings.com/releases/romance) |
| Order in discography | Fourth studio album, following Dogrel (2019), A Hero's Death (2020), and Skinty Fia (2022)[1](https://www.xlrecordings.com/releases/romance) |
| Producer | James Ford, the first Fontaines D.C. album not produced by Dan Carey[2](https://guitar.com/features/interviews/fontaines-dc-conor-curley-interview-romance/) |
| Length and tracks | 11 tracks, from the 2:33 opener "Romance" to the 4:16 closer "Favourite"[1](https://www.xlrecordings.com/releases/romance) |
| Recording | Roughly 40 songs written in autumn 2023, about 20 kept; three weeks of preproduction in London and three weeks of recording at La Frette-sur-Seine studios near Paris[6](https://www.lemonde.fr/culture/article/2024/08/23/le-groupe-fontaines-d-c-et-sa-romance-moderne_6291888_3246.html) |
| Reception | Metascore of 89 on Metacritic, based on 25 critic reviews, all positive[4](https://www.metacritic.com/music/romance/fontaines-dc/critic-reviews) |
| Theme | Vocalist Grian Chatten: "I'm fascinated by falling in love at the end of the world. The album is about protecting that tiny flame."[1](https://www.xlrecordings.com/releases/romance) |
## Background and making
Fontaines D.C. is a Dublin-formed, London-based quintet founded in 2017 by vocalist [Grian Chatten](https://www.edgepedia.org/grian-chatten) (born 1995), guitarists Carlos O'Connell and Conor Curley, bassist Conor Deegan, and drummer Tom Coll.[6](https://www.lemonde.fr/culture/article/2024/08/23/le-groupe-fontaines-d-c-et-sa-romance-moderne_6291888_3246.html) • [7](https://elpais.com/babelia/2024-10-26/fontaines-dc-regreso-al-futuro-del-rock.html) By the time Romance was written, the band had spent two years touring behind Skinty Fia, which had reached number 1 in the UK album charts, including a North American support tour with [Arctic Monkeys](https://www.edgepedia.org/arctic-monkeys).[8](https://www.vogue.com/article/fontaines-dc-romance-album-interview-2024) • [9](https://www.theguardian.com/music/article/2024/aug/15/fontaines-dc-romance-review-xl-recordings) Chatten had also released his solo debut, *Chaos for the Fly*, in 2023, and the members spent the intervening months writing separately, Curley in his own studio and Coll in another down the same corridor.[2](https://guitar.com/features/interviews/fontaines-dc-conor-curley-interview-romance/)
**A different way of writing.** The band's first three albums had arrived in the studio fully written; for Romance, many songs had no lyrics and no structures when recording began, which O'Connell described as nerve-wracking but freeing.[10](https://www.papermag.com/fontaines-dc-romance) After reconvening following the Arctic Monkeys tour, the band went through a four-week writing session, then recorded in France.[11](https://themusic.com.au/features/fontaines-d-c-romance-album-interview/C5qxHx4BAAM/23-08-24) Most of the record was cut over three weeks at the La Frette-sur-Seine studios outside Paris, a converted chateau about thirty kilometers from the city that is producer James Ford's preferred workplace and where he had also recorded Arctic Monkeys.[6](https://www.lemonde.fr/culture/article/2024/08/23/le-groupe-fontaines-d-c-et-sa-romance-moderne_6291888_3246.html)
Ford, known for his work with Arctic Monkeys, Depeche Mode, Gorillaz, and Foals, came to the project at his own initiative, and the band welcomed the change.[12](https://danstafaceb.com/fontaines-d-c-interview) • [2](https://guitar.com/features/interviews/fontaines-dc-conor-curley-interview-romance/) Curley said the first three albums "seemed like a trilogy" with a similar production style, and that the band wanted to see how a different producer would interpret the material.[2](https://guitar.com/features/interviews/fontaines-dc-conor-curley-interview-romance/) O'Connell credited Ford's organized way of working, in which every take is tight and clean from the start, with leaving room for new ideas throughout the sessions.[10](https://www.papermag.com/fontaines-dc-romance)
## Title and themes
The title came from a poem by [Arthur Rimbaud](https://www.edgepedia.org/arthur-rimbaud) that Chatten and Curley used to read together when they were flatmates in Dublin.[13](https://elpais.com/cultura/2026-10-17/un-madrileno-en-fontaines-dc-el-alma-lorquiana-del-grupo-indie-del-momento.html) Chatten framed the album around protecting a tiny flame as a larger armageddon looms, and the opener voices the thesis in its first lines: "Maybe romance is a place."[1](https://www.xlrecordings.com/releases/romance) • [3](https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/fontaines-dc-romance/) He described wanting to subvert expectations by pairing industrial, futuristic sounds with a "classic Hollywood title," and said the idea grew out of the band's move to London and the experience of feeling dwarfed by a large city's mechanisms.[10](https://www.papermag.com/fontaines-dc-romance)
Chatten called Romance the band's "least Irish" album.[14](https://www.theguardian.com/music/2024/apr/18/fontaines-dc-grian-chatten-carlos-oconnell-romance-interview) Previous records had treated Ireland as setting, subject, and specter, with lyrics dense with Dublin reference; O'Connell said that focus had really been about identity and belonging, and Romance universalized the question.[14](https://www.theguardian.com/music/2024/apr/18/fontaines-dc-grian-chatten-carlos-oconnell-romance-interview) One unusual provenance: O'Connell wrote "Horseness Is the Whatness," the album's oldest song, alone on a farm in Spain after recording Skinty Fia, drawing on the importance the outlaw narrator of [Tom Robbins](https://www.edgepedia.org/tom-robbins)'s *Still Life with Woodpecker* places on word choice.[10](https://www.papermag.com/fontaines-dc-romance)
## Music and songs
The record deliberately collects the members' separate listening habits, from hip-hop, electroclash, and trip hop to metal, anime scores, and Danish crime cinema such as the *Pusher* series.[2](https://guitar.com/features/interviews/fontaines-dc-conor-curley-interview-romance/) • [10](https://www.papermag.com/fontaines-dc-romance) The Guardian's review found the nu-metal influence worn lightly: without the band's own nods to Korn and Deftones, the verses of "Starburster" would read as hip-hop delivery.[9](https://www.theguardian.com/music/article/2024/aug/15/fontaines-dc-romance-review-xl-recordings)
**Singles and standout tracks.** "Starburster," the lead single, grew from a panic attack Chatten suffered at a London tube station; his sharp inhales are audible in the track, and its lyrics compress chaotic thoughts touching on Dublin's General Post Office, Catholicism, the 2023 [SAG-AFTRA](https://www.edgepedia.org/sag-aftra) strike, and J.D. Salinger.[10](https://www.papermag.com/fontaines-dc-romance) • [9](https://www.theguardian.com/music/article/2024/aug/15/fontaines-dc-romance-review-xl-recordings) "Horseness Is the Whatness," which quotes [James Joyce](https://www.edgepedia.org/james-joyce), incorporates the ultrasound heartbeat of O'Connell's daughter under lush strings, and Pitchfork called it the most beautiful song in the band's catalog to date.[3](https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/fontaines-dc-romance/) Reviewers located specific touchstones across the record: the Cure-like gloom of the title track, the [Lana Del Rey](https://www.edgepedia.org/lana-del-rey) channeling of "In the Modern World," the shoegaze of "Sundowner," and the Britpop-style closer "Favourite," for which Chatten had originally written twelve verses and which the band developed through jam sessions.[9](https://www.theguardian.com/music/article/2024/aug/15/fontaines-dc-romance-review-xl-recordings) • [15](https://www.euronews.com/culture/2024/08/23/fontaines-dcs-romance-euronews-cultures-verdict) • [11](https://themusic.com.au/features/fontaines-d-c-romance-album-interview/C5qxHx4BAAM/23-08-24) Curley cited the Pixies as a reference point for "Here's the Thing."[2](https://guitar.com/features/interviews/fontaines-dc-conor-curley-interview-romance/)
## Reception and legacy
The album earned a Metascore of 89 on Metacritic from 25 reviews, all of them positive, with scores of 100 from DIY, musicOMH, NME, The Skinny, and The Guardian.[4](https://www.metacritic.com/music/romance/fontaines-dc/critic-reviews) The Guardian's Alexis Petridis judged it the band's most approachable album to date while noting it still carried their "grimy, careworn, aggressive" qualities, and framed it as a band positioning itself for arenas without courting mass acceptance cravenly.[9](https://www.theguardian.com/music/article/2024/aug/15/fontaines-dc-romance-review-xl-recordings) Euronews called it one of the year's very best, and Pitchfork gave it 7.7.[15](https://www.euronews.com/culture/2024/08/23/fontaines-dcs-romance-euronews-cultures-verdict) • [3](https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/fontaines-dc-romance/) Le Monde placed Romance at number 1 on its year-end list, writing that it established the band's leadership in the rock sphere of the 2020s.[5](https://www.lemonde.fr/en/culture/article/2024/12/30/le-monde-s-favorite-albums-of-2024_6736557_30.html) It was also the fifth best-selling vinyl album of 2024 in the United Kingdom.[16](https://www.officialcharts.com/chart-news/the-official-best-selling-vinyl-albums-and-singles-of-2024/) A deluxe edition followed on 16 April 2025.[1](https://www.xlrecordings.com/releases/romance)
The album also changed the band's commercial trajectory: Spanish-language coverage called it "the album that gave them the international leap."[13](https://elpais.com/cultura/2026-10-17/un-madrileno-en-fontaines-dc-el-alma-lorquiana-del-grupo-indie-del-momento.html) Its successor continued the collaboration with Ford: the band's fifth album, *[Dopamine Chamber](https://www.edgepedia.org/dopamine-chamber)* (2026), was produced by Ford again and described by critics as continuing the transformation begun with Romance.[17](https://los40.com/2026/10/16/critica-de-dopamine-chamber-de-fontaines-dc-dopamina-para-los-que-ya-nada-les-estimula/)
## References
1. [Romance, XL Recordings release page](https://www.xlrecordings.com/releases/romance)
2. [How Fontaines D.C. confounded expectations again on 'Romance', Guitar.com](https://guitar.com/features/interviews/fontaines-dc-conor-curley-interview-romance/)
3. [Fontaines D.C.: Romance Album Review, Pitchfork](https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/fontaines-dc-romance/)
4. [Critic Reviews for Romance, Metacritic](https://www.metacritic.com/music/romance/fontaines-dc/critic-reviews)
5. [Le Monde's favorite albums of 2024, Le Monde](https://www.lemonde.fr/en/culture/article/2024/12/30/le-monde-s-favorite-albums-of-2024_6736557_30.html)
6. [Le groupe Fontaines D.C. et sa « romance » moderne, Le Monde](https://www.lemonde.fr/culture/article/2024/08/23/le-groupe-fontaines-d-c-et-sa-romance-moderne_6291888_3246.html)
7. [Fontaines DC, regreso al futuro del rock, El País](https://elpais.com/babelia/2024-10-26/fontaines-dc-regreso-al-futuro-del-rock.html)
8. [Ireland's Fontaines D.C. Want to Romance You With Their Fourth Studio Album, Vogue](https://www.vogue.com/article/fontaines-dc-romance-album-interview-2024)
9. [Fontaines DC: Romance review – arenas await, but on the band's own strange terms, The Guardian](https://www.theguardian.com/music/article/2024/aug/15/fontaines-dc-romance-review-xl-recordings)
10. [Fontaines D.C. Talk "Romance", PAPER Magazine](https://www.papermag.com/fontaines-dc-romance)
11. [How Hip-Hop, Metal & Anime Established The World Of Fontaines D.C.'s 'Romance', The Music](https://themusic.com.au/features/fontaines-d-c-romance-album-interview/C5qxHx4BAAM/23-08-24)
12. [Fontaines D.C. : "Ce sont les moments de vie les plus sombres qui permettent d'imaginer la beauté", La Face B](https://danstafaceb.com/fontaines-d-c-interview)
13. [Un madrileño en Fontaines D.C.: el alma lorquiana del grupo 'indie' del momento, El País](https://elpais.com/cultura/2026-10-17/un-madrileno-en-fontaines-dc-el-alma-lorquiana-del-grupo-indie-del-momento.html)
14. [Fontaines DC: 'We can generate ideas that sound like they've been carved in stone for a thousand years', The Guardian](https://www.theguardian.com/music/2024/apr/18/fontaines-dc-grian-chatten-carlos-oconnell-romance-interview)
15. [Fontaines D.C.'s 'Romance': Euronews Culture's verdict, Euronews](https://www.euronews.com/culture/2024/08/23/fontaines-dcs-romance-euronews-cultures-verdict)
16. [The Official best-selling vinyl albums and singles of 2024, Official Charts](https://www.officialcharts.com/chart-news/the-official-best-selling-vinyl-albums-and-singles-of-2024/)
17. [Crítica de Dopamine Chamber, de Fontaines D.C., LOS40](https://los40.com/2026/10/16/critica-de-dopamine-chamber-de-fontaines-dc-dopamina-para-los-que-ya-nada-les-estimula/)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Music › Musical works and recordings › Albums and recorded releases › Studio albums › New wave and post-punk albums › Post-punk albums*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license