Just days ahead of them releasing their highly anticipated new album, Fontaines D.C. have dropped a cinematic single ‘Where Is Gone?’, which sees them join forces with Rosalía.
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The song is the latest to be shared ahead of the band’s upcoming fifth album ‘Dopamine Chamber’, following on from lead single ‘Marianne’ and eerie track ‘Tongue’. The album is the follow-up to 2024’s acclaimed and Mercury-nominated ‘Romance’, and set for release on Friday (October 16).
Ahead of the album arriving, the Dublin rock giants have also been previewing other new material at a recent show in Brooklyn – including as-yet-unreleased songs ‘Six Shot Morning’ and ‘Happy For You’ – and also revealed the full LP tracklist, which fans quickly noticed included a collaboration with Rosalía.
Now, just days before the record drops, Fontaines have dropped the song with Rosalía as the third official single. ‘Where Is Gone?’ takes on a much more elegant, theatrical sound to the other previously-released singles, and sees her signature vocal style effortlessly intertwine with those of Grian Chatten.
“The face you pull/ With pervert lines/ The perfect way/ To say I love you/ On a rainy day/ In my head,” Chatten sings in the melancholic, stripped back introduction, following an epic, cinematic introduction.
“The picture frame/ It shows your face/ It’s only worth what you pay/ In this world/ I could care less, so careless/ But baby when you smile,” Rosalía continues, before they come together in the sombre, heartfelt chorus. “I remember when they held me up against the summertime/ And the tears would fall/ Baby if you try/ There’s no harm in saying/ Leave it, let it die.”
This marks the band’s first ever guest vocalist on a track, despite Chatten long-harbouring a desire to work with Lana Del Rey. It also comes as a poignant song for Carlos O’Connell, who has recently been reconnecting with his Spanish heritage.
“I’ve been a fan of Rosalía since her debut album, which was absolutely beautiful,” he said. “What really excited me was how she was keeping a Spanish tradition of music alive, which in a spiritual way felt akin to what we’ve tried to do with Irish music. For someone with roots in both countries, it’s been beautiful to see. She’s an artist who’s blown me away at every stage since.”
Ahead of the album release on Friday, Fontaines will be playing an intimate gig at London’s Roundhouse on Thursday (October 15) which will celebrate the record and raise money for mental health charity CALM.
The gig is a stark contrast to the huge shows the band have become accustomed to, and next summer, for instance, they will play some massive gigs in the UK and Ireland, including two nights at Slane Castle and a double-header at Manchester’s Heaton Park. Support on the UK stops comes from Little Simz and Viagra Boys, with Hayley Williams opening in Ireland.
They recently announced new concerts in Italy and Germany as part of their 2027 trek, as well as dates in Japan, Australia and New Zealand, and the outdoor run follows their 2026 UK and European arena tour this autumn, off the back of this summer’s Reading & Leeds headline slots. Find any remaining tickets for those shows here.
The follow-up to 2024’s acclaimed and Mercury-nominated ‘Romance’ comes after Fontaines’ recent contributions to the Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man soundtrack and the War Child ‘Help(2)’ album.
It has been given a five-star review from NME, which praised it as a “dark but exhilarating reflection of end times”.
“If you were expecting a pop banger via the Rosalía collab ‘Where Is Gone?’, think again – it’s a lovelorn Morricone meets Bond theme ballad that peacefully realises that sometimes ‘there’s no harm in saying leave it, let it die’,” the review read.
“Even ‘Romance’ had the daydream euphoria of ‘Favourite’, but there’s no real light on here despite its Trojan Horse hooks. The album is all the richer for not having a Radio X banger shoehorned in. It just goes to show that you can fill out a stadium without shitting out a ‘Sex On Fire’.”
The post Check out Fontaines D.C.’s and Rosalía’s sweeping, cinematic collab ‘Where Is Gone?’ appeared first on NME.