Fontaines D.C. share, 'Japan', taken from their acclaimed UK chart topping fifth album, Dopamine Chamber, via XL Recordings.
‘Japan’ – described by Rolling Stone UK as “one of the most beautiful songs Fontaines D.C. have ever recorded” -arrived with a video directed by Luna Carmoon. The BAFTA-winning filmmaker previously collaborated with the band on the cinematic Romance-era triptych of videos for ‘Here’s The Thing’, ‘In The Modern World’ and ‘It’s Amazing To Be Young’. The ‘Japan’ video stars Angèle Metzger, Charlie Heaton and Sean Black.
The follow-up to 2024’s UK platinum-certified Romance, Dopamine Chamber is the sound of a band moving decisively away from the guitar language of their early records and into their most inventive and seductive music yet. Produced by James Ford and preceded by singles ‘Marianne’, ‘Tongue’ and their collaboration with Rosalía, ‘Where Is Gone?’, the album arrives like a constellation behind undulating sighs of smog: potent balladry, anthemic melodies glinting through the murk. In a world tipping towards collapse, it asks how pleasure mutates amid peril—and what our pursuit of it reveals about us.
Listen to ‘Japan’ on the Liverpool Official playlist.
Across five albums, Fontaines D.C. have refused to repeat themselves – from Dogrel (2019) through A Hero’s Death (2020), the UK and Irish #1 Skinty Fia (2022) and the anarchic, kaleidoscopic Romance (2024). Dopamine Chamber is their most radical turn yet. It was made with James Ford between London, the English countryside and Palermo, where Chatten recorded vocals in a makeshift booth built from mattresses and cushions. For their fifth album, Fontaines D.C. have built the chamber. What happens to the listener inside it will be the experiment.
Reflecting the anticipation around the new album, Fontaines D.C. recently announced their biggest ever headline shows – taking in arenas across the UK and Europe in 2026 and then huge outdoor and stadium shows in 2027 and their biggest North American shows to date. These include two nights at Ireland’s legendary Slane Castle (26 and 27 June), Blackweir Fields, Cardiff (29 June), St James’ Park, Newcastle (1 July), Heaton Park, Manchester (3 and 4 July), Glasgow Green (6 July) and London Stadium (9 July).
