Hi everyone, Tom-thony Cruise-Tano here, the internet's busiest music nerd, and it's time for a review of this new Fontaines D.C. record, Dopamine Chamber.

Here we have the fifth full-length LP from breakout Irish rock outfit Fontaines D.C. The highly anticipated follow-up to their last album, Romance, which was handily their most successful record to date, artistically and commercially. An album that even had me taking a second look at the band after their early releases, which more or less had them sounding, to my ears, kind of like a boilerplate post-punk outfit. The kind of thing that I normally would go crazy for, but in the case of Fontaines, not really, even with, Skinty Fia in 2022.

However, the band would depart from that sound, pretty boldly, on the record Romance. Mind you, I still think this album was dogged by a lot of the problems that I had had with previous Fontaines albums. Namely, the performances and production running a bit too one-dimensional and repetitive.

However, it was still encouraging to hear the band embracing a wider array of influences and putting out a few tracks that had a more of a pop appeal. Namely, "Favourite," which is a jaunty, infectious, jangle-pop number, with an awesome chorus and is handily one of the best songs the band has ever put out. And many would agree, it seems, given that the record is certified gold over in the UK. And with Dopamine Chamber, the band could have easily pointed their noses to the money and made an attempt at a favorite two or do a whole record of jangle-pop tracks or something.

But surprisingly, they did not. And instead, come through with a record that is much moodier than you might think something titled Dopamine Chamber might be. And I would say the band works to diversify their sound even further, too, with more acoustics, electronics, loops, synthesizers as well, but without straying too far from their rock roots.

I feel like a lot of the songs on this album have notable textures and progressions as well. Miraculously, I don't feel like I can simply forecast the entirety of these songs just by hearing the first 60 seconds of them, praise the Lord.

Take "Six Shot Morning," for example, which I wouldn't say is a standout piece of songwriting for the band, however, it is a bit of new territory with its gurgling filtered bass loops, airy synth chords, and driving krautrock-type drums. We're really entering the Dopamine Chamber, I guess, because the great textures, endless grooves, and kind of listless vocals put me in a lull that I think makes me more receptive to the following tracks.

Because I instantly found myself enjoying "Marianne" more in the context of the record than I did as a single. I love its deeply spacious and nocturnal synths and sensual beats, its throbbing bass line, too, and there's a weird allure to the themes of disassociation that I read in its lyrics.

But from here, I do think the record starts to trail off a little bit due to a lack of novel or interesting ideas. "Mimesis," for example, kind of feels like a watered-down piece of new wave, sans pop appeal.

And with "Happy for You" – this one definitely drags. Even if I do think the storytelling going on in its lyrics is pretty compelling, the idea of moving on in the midst of a separation and not prolonging anything that needs to be ended by refusing to chase if the other person were to walk away. The heavy guitar passages in this track provide a nice contrast from the verses, and for sure bring a '90s appeal that's in vogue right now. And really goes full tilt in the last leg of the song, with a super enveloping mix.

And speaking of the '90s, "Demolition" kinda sounds like a combination of The Cure and Nirvana, with these contrasting sections of thick, grunge-friendly riffs, and then airy synths and icy rhythm guitars on the verses. It is a cool mix, but songwriting-wise, the abrupt finish on this one leaves it feeling a little half-baked.

However, the song "Tongue" is a complete surprise. Not only did I love this one as a single, but it's one of the weirdest numbers here stylistically. Because in so many ways, I feel like this track is a rap-rock song, but without going so full into that that the band is explicitly staking a claim to that style. But I mean, in so many ways, that's essentially what it is doing with its bass and chipmunk vocal loops, its groovy drum beats, its talk-sung vocals, which have a very steady flow to them.

And a piano section, too, I feel like, you could work into a Kendrick Lamar song. Plus, I find the lyrics on this one pretty interesting as well, even if they are a bit repetitive, as they seem to very clearly be about a struggle with ADHD, or at least kind of coping with the effects of the medication one might need to combat it.

"One Man" is another kind of mild one to my ears. One of the few tracks on this thing that goes very clearly back into a jangle-pop direction, but does so with a very patient, slow, psychedelic intro, and a lot of nods to Oasis once the whole thing really gets going.

And with "Where Is Gone?" I feel like the thing with this record, my favorite tracks are the ones that I expect the least from Fontaines D.C. Not only that, but it's crazy this song has a Rosalía feature on it, and it's an amazing duet with an instrumental that has almost like a spaghetti western power-duo ballad kind of feel. It's very grandiose, it's very dramatic, and believe it or not, there is a fantastic amount of vocal chemistry on this track. You could say it's a little Nick Cave, maybe a little early Scott Walker.

Again, huge contrast from the usual moody Manchester jams that the band typically puts out, and I don't know, amazing, despite this not usually being in their wheelhouse.

Which leaves us to the final leg of the record, which I think is relatively solid. "You Miss Me" is a thick, string-kissed breakup ballad with blissful hooks that contrast very moody and dark verses. But once again, this track, too, exemplifies what I feel like is a constant issue with me on some of these tracks, and that's just one more very abrupt out-of-nowhere ending.

For as good as many of the performances and production and song structures can be on this record, the band really should be writing some proper endings on these songs.

Then there's "Japan," which is kind of like this record's mandatory cute ballad to showcase the band's softer side, which I think does go over impeccably well and functions as, like, a little ray of light in the midst of this mostly grim album.

And then the closing track I found to be a little underwhelming, but in many ways I think serves a purpose similar to that of the intro, in that it feels like a gradual exit from the Dopamine Chamber with a lot of very repetitive, instrumental passages, hypnotic vocals and delays and kind of brittle distortions that slowly wash over you and leave things off on a dreamy but also somewhat dreary note.

And for me, that's kind of the Fontaines D.C. record in a nutshell. I mean, I do think there is some more depth from the lyrics that could be dug out of this thing, but for the most part, what I appreciate about this record is that it feels like an improvement on many fronts. The production is more textured and richer and more colorful. It feels like the band is taking more risks with different sounds and styles, and some of them are very much paying off. A lot of these tracks feel just a tad bit more structured, and they are the better for it.

While it remains to be seen whether or not the band wrote a smash on here that's as big as "Favourite," it does feel like they tried to improve their songwriting chops along those lines, even if they're not chasing after that sound or that hit-potential once again in a more obvious way by just doing, like, a bunch of jangle pop rehashes.

Because numerous tracks on this thing show the band just caring a little bit more about choruses that contrast very clearly from the rest of the track, and instrumentals that bring some kind of progressive tension that keeps the listener engaged.

But yeah, while I didn't love it, I really appreciated the work the band put into this one. And slowly but surely Fontaines D.C. are becoming a very solid, very intriguing band, which is why I'm feeling a light-to-decent 7 on this one.

Anthony Fantano, Fontaines D.C., forever.