CARLOS O'CONNELL ISN'T MERELY EXCITED about the release of Fontaines DC's new single. He's "giddy for it. I'm giddy", he emphasises, reclining in his dressing gown in a sunlit corner of his north London home. His attire is far from rock star loucheness: it's 9am and the guitarist has already been up for hours with his one-year-old daughter. "There's no time to get ready!" His effusiveness doesn't feel like a stretch: the prospect of any new material from the celebrated Dublin band is thrilling enough; the fact that Starburster marks a wholly unexpected sidestep into antic, irreverent, Korninspired nu-metal is enough to make any interested parties come over slightly light-headed.
Yet later that afternoon, Fontaines frontman Grian Chatten is finding it difficult to muster the same enthusiasm. Perhaps because he can't quite bring himself to listen to the thing-or, in fact, any of the band's forthcoming fourth album, Romance. He tells me this from a more stereotypical hot seat, a characterfully cluttered old-school pub in Camden Town, although he's not cleaving to rock cliche, either. We are on the Diet Cokes and the only pharmaceuticals around are his ADHD medication.
There are four months until Romance is released in August: might he give it a spin in the meantime? "I'm considering it," he says, seriously. "Which is more than I could have said for any album we've done before."
Those previous albums won the band a Brit award, Grammy and Mercury prize nominations and, in the case of 2022's Skinty Fia, a place at the top of the UK charts. They also put the five-piece in the running for best rock band in the world, though they have little competition for the title.
This story is from the April 26, 2024 edition of The Guardian Weekly.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the April 26, 2024 edition of The Guardian Weekly.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
The Three-Coffee Ritual That Fuels A Nation's Daily Grind
500k Tonnes of coffee beans produced each year by Ethiopian farmers
Rising Hopes - Could Latest Ceasefire Talks Yield A Breakthrough?
There has been a recent flurry of activity around the talks, with an uptick of optimism about progress.
Fears Of A New War On Border With Lebanon As Tensions Rise
For the Israeli communities evacuated from the country's far north in the aftermath of 7 October, there is no longer any doubt about whether full-scale war with Hezbollah in Lebanon is going to happen. For most people, the only question is when.
World in motion
The Venice Biennale's 'foreigners everywhere' theme leaves Adrian Searle beguiled, tantalised - and frequently appalled
A hard-right tidal wave is coming, and outrunning it will be difficult - Gordon Brown
By the time of the European parliament elections in June, this year's rightward ebb in European politics will have turned into a tidal wave. Ultra-nationalist demagogues and populist-nationalists are now leading the polls in Italy, the Netherlands, France, Austria, Hungary and Slovakia, and running second in Germany and Sweden.
Shock and ore - Anglo sale would strip the jewel from South Africa's crown
The world's largest mining company has a problem. Australia's BHP has set out its intention to snap up the rival miner Anglo American in a multibillion-pound deal that would reshape the global industry.
In his Maga heartlands, Trump is a victim not a defendant
In one US, he cuts a diminished, humbled figure. \"He seems considerably older and he seems annoyed, resigned, maybe angry,\" said broadcaster Rachel Maddow of MSNBC after seeing Donald Trump up close in court. \"He seems like a man who is miserable to be here.\"
Seoul man - Ambassador by day, samba sensation by night
Brazil's latest music sensation grinned from ear to ear as he moseyed down Copacabana beach contemplating his unusual rise to fame.
Preserving the shoes of Stutthof
Leather footwear from Nazi concentration camps ended up at the Baltic coast base, and campaigners want them to be salvaged
On French coast, hope outweighs risk of death or Rwanda
Five drowned last week as a packed dinghy tried to cross the Channel, but those seeking a better life remain undeterred