Fontaines D.C. just pushed the door open on Dopamine Chamber, and it sounds nothing like the band that shouted its way out of Dublin. The fifth album from the five piece is out today on XL Recordings, produced by James Ford, and it lands with ROSALÍA singing on its centerpiece. After Romance turned them into one of the biggest guitar bands on the planet, they could have made that record again. They went somewhere colder instead.
The record after the breakout
It helps to remember how big the last one got. Romance debuted at No. 2 in the UK and has since gone platinum there. It gave the band its first entry on the Billboard 200, two GRAMMY nominations, including Best Rock Album, and International Group of the Year at the 2025 BRIT Awards. It also won Ireland's Choice Music Prize and made the Mercury Prize shortlist. Following that is the kind of pressure that makes bands play it safe.
Fontaines did the opposite. The band's own notes describe Dopamine Chamber as a decisive move away from the guitar language of their early records toward something colder, stranger and more synthetic. The theme is pleasure under pressure: how the things that make us feel good start to mutate when the world feels like it is tipping over. Grian Chatten explains the title in a single line. "The album itself is a dopamine chamber," he says. "You step inside and we test these different mind or mood altering pieces of music on you."
Eleven songs, about 44 minutes
The record runs 11 tracks and comes in just under three quarters of an hour. It opens with "Six Shot Morning," then "Marianne," "Mimesis," "Happy For You," "Demolition," "Tongue," "One Man," "Where Is Gone? (with ROSALÍA)," "You Miss Me," "Japan" and the closer "Intimate."
Three songs have been out in the wild. "Marianne" came first in August, with a video directed by Dave Meyers and Cam Erickson. The band's notes point out that Meyers made Kendrick Lamar's "HUMBLE." and Travis Scott's "SICKO MODE" videos, so his name on a Fontaines clip was the first sign this era would look different too. "Tongue" followed at the end of September, built around a hook that keeps circling back on itself. Then on October 12 came "Where Is Gone?", the duet with ROSALÍA. At 5:16 it is the longest song on the album, and it is the one most people will hit play on first.
Vinyl, cassette and CD
XL is pressing Dopamine Chamber in several versions. The headline piece is a Limited Edition Deluxe 2LP, black vinyl cut at 45rpm, housed in a gatefold jacket with printed innersleeves, an insert and a poster. There is also a Limited Edition Blue Vinyl, a standard black LP, a cassette with alternate artwork on a foldout J card, and a CD in a gatefold digipak. The XL Recordings store lists all of them, along with a Blue Marble LP. You can also get the blue vinyl here or grab the CD.
Where to see it live
The tour page is a monster. The November UK arena run, including The O2 in London on November 27, is already sold out. Early 2027 takes the band to Japan, Australia and New Zealand, then Lollapalooza in Argentina, Chile and Brazil and two nights in Mexico City. North America runs from April 22 in Boston to May 12 in San Francisco. Then come the giant ones: two nights at Slane Castle on June 26 and 27, back to back nights at Heaton Park in Manchester, and London Stadium on July 9. This is a band playing stadiums with an album that refuses to sound like a stadium record.
Our call
This is a Signal. Big bands rarely swerve this hard right after their biggest hit, and Fontaines did it with James Ford at the desk and ROSALÍA on the most important song. Start with "Where Is Gone?", then play the whole thing front to back. It is built to be heard as one room.
Spinning it at home? Our best turntables for beginners will get that deluxe 2LP sounding right, and our gifts for record collectors are ready for the crate digger in your life. For another big name going somewhere new this week, read about Beck's Ride Lonesome.
Listen on Bandcamp · Watch "Where Is Gone?" · Watch "Marianne" · Fontaines D.C.
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