Fontaines D.C. Release ‘Dopamine Chamber,’ Their First Album With a Guest: Rosalía

Fontaines D.C. made four albums without a single guest. On the fifth, Dopamine Chamber, out Friday (Oct. 16) on XL Recordings, the guest is Rosalía.

The song is “Where Is Gone?,” released Monday (Oct. 12): a duet between frontman Grian Chatten and the Catalan star, produced by James Ford like the rest of the record and the third preview after “Marianne” and “Tongue.” Rolling Stone hears the pair trading lines over “a moody acoustic strum that repeatedly swells with strings and clattering drums,” and Stereogum calls it “a big, dramatic, string-laden ballad with real Bond-theme vibes.” Both sing in English. Hear it below.

Guitarist Carlos O’Connell, who has roots in both Spain and Ireland, saw a kindred project in Rosalía. “She kind of did something for Spain, you know, I feel like maybe similar to what we did for Ireland of opening the floodgates,” he told Triple J, per Billboard.

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Rosalía is having a Dublin moment. U2 named a song after her on Carnaval de Luz, though she isn’t on it, and Stereogum observed that the long solidarity between Ireland and Catalonia now “seems to take the form of Dublin rock bands loving Rosalía.” When Fontaines posted the tracklist, the Irish Examiner says, “a weird number of fans were outraged at the Catalan singer’s presence.”

The record is built around the scroll. A press release says it takes in AI, celebrity gossip, political violence, the climate threat and the memes they spawn. “The album itself is a dopamine chamber,” Chatten said. “You step inside and we test these different mind or mood-altering pieces of music on you.” It was made with Ford in London, the English countryside and Palermo, Italy, where Chatten built a DIY booth from mattresses and cushions.

Reviews are in. Pitchfork calls it “cruel, beautiful feel-bad music” and says the Rosalía song is “one of the most beautiful either artist has recorded, and one of the most chilling.” NME, which hears “a lovelorn Morricone meets Bond theme ballad,” calls the album “an extraordinary record for extraordinary times,” and the Irish Examiner gave it five stars.

Next they take it on the road. A European arena tour starts in Lisbon on Oct. 21, and next summer’s stadium shows include Slane Castle, where Billboard says they will be the first Irish band to headline since U2. The North American tour opens April 22 at MGM Music Hall at Fenway in Boston, and they are on Primavera Sound’s 2027 bill in Barcelona.