Fontaines D.C.: Grian Chatten is thinking about another solo album and a band hiatus

Grian Chatten is thinking about a second solo album, with a different direction from the intimate atmospheres of "Chaos For The Fly". The Fontaines D.C. frontman discussed it in an interview with MOJO, hinting at plans for a livelier record more suited to festival stages. "I've already got a few bits and an idea of how I'd like it to be. I'd say it would be a lot more upbeat and a bit more festival-oriented," Chatten explained. The project doesn't yet have a title or a release date. The news comes as Fontaines D.C. have just released their fifth album, "Dopamine Chamber", the follow-up to 2024's "Romance".

Looking ahead to the band's future, with a major tour planned for 2027, the frontman expressed a wish to step back for a while: "The best thing we can do at this point is to go away for a bit. Take stock and also give the audience a break from us, maybe for a while, after this record." Yet this outlook coexists with a creative drive that's far from spent. "I'm telling you this, but at the same time I'm still writing a lot of music. When you write a lot and the material doesn't find an outlet, it starts piling up and you want it to end up somewhere. Just to get a bit of breathing room, or something like that. I'll probably just end up writing and writing." Asked whether these songs could end up on another solo record, Chatten replied: "Yeah, I think so. I've been thinking about it lately."

Released in 2023, "Chaos For The Fly" revealed the singer's more intimate side, through acoustic guitars, piano and strings. Written during the demanding touring period that followed "Skinty Fia", the album allowed him to explore a personal space distinct from that of the band.
In a 2023 conversation with NME, Chatten described the experience this way: "It was like taking a photo of the band, drawing a line around myself and reminding myself of my position outside the group." A journey through feelings of darkness, depression and isolation, which writing allowed him to confront: "These new songs were my way of exploring all that, so starting work on the record was a relief. It's like reclaiming my music. My only regret is not taking more time to make it, because it was over in a flash."
The experience would go on to affect Fontaines D.C.'s work too. In 2024, speaking about the making of "Romance", the Irish singer said he felt better precisely because of his solo debut: "After that record I feel a lot less alone, and that was one of the main reasons I wanted to make it. It's not all darkness and doom: I'm doing fine."

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