Music Marketing - Fontaines D.C.

Fontaines DC are an irish post punk rock band from Dublin, as hinted with the initials DC (Dublin City). They have released four albums, their most recent and most critically acclaimed album "Romance" released in 2024 is the project that catapulted their popularity. Their line up consists of frontman and singer Grian Chatten, guitarist Conor Curly, bassist Conor "Deego" Deegan III, guitarist Carlos O'connell and drummer Tom Coll. They were originally signed to independent label Partisan records however their fourth album was released under XL Recordings.

The lead single for Romance is a rap rock song called "Starburster" acclaimed for its distinct change in style from the band as they progress from indie to a more stylistic genre. The song was a huge success overtaking previous single "I love you" as their most streamed song. It went on to be Grammy nominated for Best Alternative Music Performance as well as the album for Best Rock Album.

The video stars lead singer Grian Chatten. After this, other singles released that received music videos involved a reoccurring cast, making this the only video to feature the band. Straight away there is a distinct change, from their indie fashion of Skinty fia featuring smart suits, polos and checkered with a red and yellow colour theme. Here he is wearing street wear, the neon green tracksuit becoming iconography within their marketing campaign, available to buy at merch stores.

The video is mostly narrative, the only element of a performance music video is Grian lip syncing. However the rest of the band do appear in the video, in a sequence following Grian around. This creates an emphasis on the togetherness of the band. There's a lot of emphasis on experimental film making within this video, multiple characters (two played by Grian), clips edited in time with the music such as knocking on the door matching the rhythm of the drums. There is also a mix in sound switching between music and spoken parts, even a couple scenes with live vocals from Grian. This further demonstrates a more experimental album to come from the band, giving a glimpse at what else was to come for this era.

Fontaines D.C. website.