CD of The Week

Having come a long way from the post-punk sounds of their 2019 debut album, Fontaines D.C. return with their fifth album, Dopamine Chamber. As the title suggests, the record is a lost highway of influences full of surprising intersections, big hooks, and bigger risks. While the last few albums flirted with ideas of darkness, longing, and cynicism, Dopamine Chamber instead chooses to linger in the murk to see what (if any) beauty can be found.

The record opens with a trio of songs that evoke similar soundscapes yet differing moods. “Six Morning Shot” sets the tone with plenty of new wave flare. Singer Grian Chatten introduces thoughts here that carry the album’s entire concept. “Fist in the air but you don’t ask why,” Chatten proclaims. It’s a simple yet powerful verse that makes more sense the longer it lingers. Lead single “Marianne” is next and it is no secret why this was chosen to be such. A surprisingly stadium-ready song that showcases the growth the band has experienced from album to album. This is followed by “Mimesis,” a pop song about death that you can dance to while crying at the same time. Every musical influence that was hinted at on previous releases (Depeche Mode, Massive Attack, New Order) is perhaps at best displayed here.

And in essence, it is that balance of emotions that carries the album. To dance while crying, protest without question for fear of the horrors the truth holds, and the search for escape are universal agitations that most struggle to find the correct balance. It carries the weight of being a necessary, if unpleasant, vantage point to explore.

Keeping that in mind, it makes the perspective of the listening experience unique and challenging. The second single “Tongue” is an interesting departure on its own but feels like an odd detour in the album’s sequence. “Where is Gone,” a duet with Rosalía, is a gorgeous tune on its own but again feels like it belongs on a different album. The choice to wallow in the fog does take a toll and can distract from otherwise well written and performed songs.

And yet, perhaps that is the point of it all. Dopamine Chamber seems by its very composition to implore the listener to take in as much as you can, then step back to return and finish later. It is an album that is meant to provoke, irritate, and yet somehow entertain. That in and of itself proves that, despite the melancholy presented here, the future remains luminous for Fontaines D.C.

Fontaines D.C. return to Philadelphia at The Mann Center Skyline Stage on April 24th of next year, but the show is already sold out.