Fontaines D.C. is the next Irish act featured in the 'Courage' series from Other Voices.
Fontaines D.C., the revered Irish five-piece alt-rock group, performed live from the historic Kilmainham Gaol in Dublin on Tuesday, July 14 as part of the 'Courage' series from Other Voice.
The concert was streamed here on IrishCentral and over on our Facebook page - watch it back here:
Read More: Meet the Irish punks lamenting Dublin’s “dying culture”
About Fontaines D.C.
Fontaines D.C. is one of the most lauded alternative rock bands to emerge from Ireland in recent years. They released their critically acclaimed debut album Dogrel in 2019 which went on to be nominated for the Mercury Prize and the Choice Music Prize. They toured extensively worldwide last year selling out shows in iconic venues such as the Brixton Academy and playing renowned festivals such as Glastonbury Festival. They also performed on the hugely popular American talk show, the Jimmy Fallon Show. Their follow-up to Dogrel, A Hero’s Death will be released on July 31st.
Fontaines D.C. have a way with mission statements. “I don't belong to anyone/ I don't want to belong to anyone,” frontman Grian Chatten drawls in the chorus of “I Don't Belong,” the opening track of the band's new album A Hero's Death, sounding like someone riddled with angst yet resolved to protect their own freedom at all costs. If not a retreat, it almost sounds like a defensive rebuke of “Big” — Fontaines' last album opener, the one that rushed out the gates hungry to consume the whole world while proclaiming “My childhood was small/ But I'm gonna be big!”
The fact that Fontaines D.C.'s new album A Hero's Death begins with “I Don't Belong” is hard to take as anything but a pointed inversion, the music moodier and the lyrics more searching. Though the tone is noticeably different, the introduction is no less intentional: This is not the same Fontaines D.C.
Last year, Fontaines D.C. released their debut album Dogrel to widespread acclaim, garnering a legion of fans worldwide along the way. They toured behind it relentlessly. In another time, this would be nothing but a success story: A young band delivering on the hype rather than being swallowed by it. They should have been riding high; it should have been nothing but a triumphant year. But to hear the band speak of it, the whirlwind experience almost destroyed them. Suddenly on the road constantly, the band's members — Chatten, guitarists Carlos O'Connell and Conor Curley, bassist Conor Deegan III, and drummer Tom Coll — found themselves growing not only distant from one another, but distant from themselves.
“We experienced full journeys where we didn't speak to each other,” Chatten remembers. “It wasn't because we didn't love each other anymore. Our souls were kicking back against walls that were closing in. We had no space for ourselves. Our souls had nowhere to live, nowhere to lie.”
Soon, Fontaines D.C. reluctantly had to cancel planned shows, finding refuge in writing sessions back home in Dublin and rediscovering what it was that made them want to be a band in the first place. Now barely a year after Dogrel, they're back with a sophomore album with the loaded (and/or cheeky) title of A Hero's Death. It's an album that builds on what came before at the same time that it seeks to burn down a certain idea of Fontaines D.C. Arising from claustrophobic situations, they have returned with an album that expands outward, an evolution necessary for survival.
You can learn more about Fontaines D.C. on their website, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube pages.
About ‘Courage’ from Other Voices
‘Courage’ is a new project that delivers uplifting, inspiring performances from brilliant artists to the public during the COVID-19 crisis. Courage will beam these performances directly into homes across the nation, from a number of iconic cultural locations. Its goal is to provide essential cultural output during this period. Music collapses distance in this time of isolation, it gives us courage, consolation, and brings us together.
Performances will take place on Tuesday and Thursday nights and will be made available worldwide, free of charge, thanks to the support of the Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, RTÉ, and IMRO. Courage series one is currently being shown on RTÉ 2 Thursdays at 23:30.
Speaking of the project Minister Madigan said: “Building on the phenomenal success of the original Courage program with a reach of over 2.7m, I am delighted to support this new initiative of live-streamed performances from some of our best-known heritage sites.
"The outpouring of wellbeing created by the first series of performances will no doubt be carried through Courage 2 and reminds us that culture lifts us up beyond circumstance and challenges and is vital to the core of our collective humanity.”
IMRO Chief Executive Victor Finn said: “In times of crisis we often turn to music creators and artists for their unique ability to interpret and reflect on the world in which we live. Music is a collective experience that can overcome physical distance and is the perfect antidote to the growing sense of alienation and isolation we have all felt in recent times – even more so, now we are being asked to actively practice social distancing.
"The Other Voices’ Courage series brings some of our finest Irish music creators to the world stage from a number of unique locations around Ireland in what we hope will be inspiring and unforgettable performances.”
Other Voices founder and director Philip King said: “We are delighted to present this second season of Other Voices Courage as part of the Government’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic. This is about bringing people together through music and recognizing the essential and powerful contribution that artists continue to make to our lives. We are inspired by the response here in Ireland and globally to the first season of Other Voices Courage, and our artists and crews have helped to bring beauty, solace, strength and a sense of belonging to people at this time of national and global crisis - is ar scáth a chéile a mhaireann na daoine.
"The Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht has played a leading and imaginative role in making it possible for our artists and crews to work together to create and present Other Voices Courage.”
Courage has been curated by the team that produces Other Voices and is funded by the Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, RTÉ, and IMRO.
In order to comply with the protection of public health, the Courage project has been designed to minimize travel, contact, and proximity for performers and crew. Producers are using the same protocols as film and television crews who continue to work and provide essential public service during this pandemic. This means using rigorous procedures and processes that comply fully with the Irish Government's regulations and restrictions.
Because of public health regulations, there can be no live audience in the locations where we film the artists, and the only people in the locations will be artists and strictly essential crew.
You can learn more about Other Voices on its website, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube pages.
Fontaines D.C. perform live from Dublin on Tuesday, July 14 at 8 pm IST / 3 pm EST - tune in here!
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