'Band of their generation': Five-star reviews for Fontaines DC's new album has critics gushing

FONTAINES D.C. HAVE returned with a new album that reviewers say has made them “the defining act” of the decade.

Dopamine Chamber is the Dublin band’s fifth studio album and is already getting rave reviews across the board.

The album is described by Rolling Stone as “a rock album with the heart of a dystopian sci-fi epic” that explores themes of tech advancement, social decay and an artificial reality. 

In its five-star review, NME says that “far from the scrappy guitar punk of debut ‘Dogrel’, Fontaines have left it all on the field with an opulent and textured musical tapestry.”

Over at The Guardian, the band is applauded for reaching new musical heights, with the album credited as being “their most formidable and cohesive record”.

Dopamine Chamber is an “endlessly inventive and frequently astonishing fifth LP from a group at increasing ease with being the best band of their generation”, the reviewer writes.

Bluesky

Hot Press writes that the album moves away from the live guitar emphasis of their earlier work and embraces new styles, scoring it 9 out of 10. 

“If decades in music get defined by the prevailing artists of an era – The Beatles in the ’60s, Madonna in the ’80s – there’s a case to be made for Fontaines D.C. being the defining act of the Nervous ’20s.” 

The song Where Is Gone? featuring Rosalía has garnered attention across the reviews, the sound likened to the theme of a Bond film.

The Spanish singer is the first outside artist to feature on a Fontaines song.

Meanwhile, frontman Grian Chatten is credited for his “scene-stealing vocal performances” and lyricism. 

Graduates of BIMM Music Institute in Dublin, the band branched out playing gigs at small venues in the city centre such as Workman’s. 

They continued to hone their sound in Dublin’s music scene, blending elements of post-punk, poetry and themes of Irish culture.

Their debut album, Dogrel, was released in 2019 to widespread critical acclaim.

They followed it with A Hero’s Death in 2020, which earned the band their first Grammy nomination.

Since then, Fontaines’ albums have continued to top charts in Ireland and in the UK. 

On the release of Dopamine Chamber, NME dubs Fontaines “the biggest Irish band since U2″ with “an extraordinary record for extraordinary times”. 

Fontaines DC are set to play two dates at Slane Castle next summer.