Fontaines D.C. have released their newest single “Tongue” as the second song off their upcoming album Dopamine Chamber, which will be released on October 16 via XL Recordings. The lyrics to this rhythmic song take on a melancholy tone before picking up at the end into a more aggressive sound accompanied by crashing cymbals and eerie electric guitar, gradually breaking apart the track’s stoic façade. “We continued where Romance left off, leaving the live-band elements until they were really needed,” says guitarist Conor Curley of the song’s recording process. Conor Deegan created the slouchy bass by manipulating tape speed – a technique often used by Prince – evoking the loose, pitched character of sampled hip-hop bass. Carlos O’Connell pushed singer Grian Chatten’s vocals through a sampler, distorting its pitch until it resembles a malicious extraterrestrial voice. “Tongue” showcases another side of the expansive sound of the band’s fifth studio album. They also released an official music video alongside the song, which was directed by John Angus Stewart and shot in New York City. The dreamlike music video shows the band bathed in blue light on top of a NYC tour bus at night, faces fuzzy as they mouth the words to lyrics like “Oh, she has a tongue to take apart your life” while they make their way over a bridge. 

Dopamine Chamber is the follow-up to 2024’s UK platinum-certified Romance – and the sound of a band moving decisively away from the guitar language of their early records and into their most seductive music yet. The album will feature a collaboration with Rosalía on the track “Where Is Gone?” “The album itself is a dopamine chamber,” says Chatten. “You step inside and we test these different mind- or mood-altering pieces of music on you.” 

Photo Credit: Nicole Ditt