Fontaines D.C., “Skinty Fia.”

Skinty Fia, the third album from Fontaines D.C., is a dark, expansive concoction of dissonant chords and searing lyrics. Building on 2019’s Mercury-Prize-shortlisted Dogrel and 2020’s Grammy-nominated A Hero’s Death, Skinty Fia explores themes of inevitable transformation and fate.

“Skinty Fia” is an anglicized Irish expression that roughly translates to “the damnation of the deer” and the album’s cover art features a fawn bathed in red light in the hallway of a home, clearly troubled and out of place. The metaphor describes the band’s experiences as members of the Irish diaspora following their recent relocation to London, of impending doom and being disconnected from their hometown, Dublin.

The album opens with the gloomy, chant-like “In ár gCroíthe go deo” (“In Our Hearts Always”). The song alludes to the Church of England’s refusal to allow the Irish language to be used on a recently deceased woman’s gravestone, an action that lead singer and chief songwriter Grian Chatten interprets as an English viewpoint that people from Ireland are not to be trusted. Chatten’s thick, north Dublin accent pulls the song reluctantly through ominous terrain. At two and a half minutes, the drums finally kick in, and a minute later, driving guitars discharge the tension in what might be the only major chords on the entire album.

“Big Shot” is a woozy, sloping track, reminiscent of the Jesus and Mary Chain. Guitarist Carlos O’Connell wrote the music and lyrics, and while the music is unmistakably Fontaines D.C., the song’s lyrical treatment is noticeably different from the other tracks on the album. The gloom continues with “How Cold Love Is,” a song that deals with both the comfort and destruction of addiction.

“Jackie Down The Line” is the first single from the album and it’s a lyrical masterpiece. Chatten’s nasally snarl is back at the forefront, popping out despondent, rat-a-tat-tat yelps over a two-chord progression.

“Bloomsday” explores Chatten’s feelings about leaving behind the stomping ground of the great Irish writers—James Joyce, Patrick Kavanagh, Flann O’Brien—and is delivered as a druggy lament in Leonard Cohen’s vocal register.

“Roman Holiday” picks up the pace with a syncopated percussion throughout. Lyrically, the song addresses the peculiar togetherness and commonality of being in a diaspora that’s not wanted. “The Couple Across the Way” is a stripped-down treatise and features Chatten’s voice accompanied by the kind of melancholy accordion riff that spy organizations presumably use to torture prisoners.

Title track “Skinty Fia” features a chugging hip-hop groove but the unshakeable doom persists. The opening bars could be a “Bond” movie theme and the track’s accompanying video, directed by Hugh Mulhern, features Chatten walking through a party, encountering Kubrick-esque figures and bizarre rituals.

Second single “I Love You” retains the intense musical treatment and adds lushness. The lyrics examine the dichotomy of personal success and Chatten’s fury at some of the atrocities committed by Irish authorities at the Tuam Mother and Baby Home in Galway. Skinty Fia closes with “Nabokov” and features music written by guitarist Conor Curley and lyrics by Chatten. The track prolongs the album’s sentiment of inner conflict, addressing the compromises necessary in a romantic relationship.

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