Fontaines D.C. Surprise-Drops Romance Deluxe Album: Here are my thoughts
On April 15, 2025, I opened Twitter to see the following tweet: “Guys. Romance Deluxe at midnight”. I disregarded it—there are rumblings of new albums/songs unseriously within fandoms all the time. I don’t think a day has gone by as a Harry Styles fan where I haven’t seen the phrase “HS4 at midnight” (referring to his fourth studio album) attached to the newest paparazzi photo of him on Twitter. So with nothing but a double tap to like the tweet, I continued scrolling.
Romance, Fontaines D.C.’s fourth studio album, and my personal favorite album of 2024, helped to give the band their second BRIT award in March of 2025. Fontaines D.C. collaborated with James Ford, a producer who has worked with notorious bands such as Arctic Monkeys (who Fontaines D.C. opened for in 2023) and Gorillaz to produce a 90’s rock-esque 11 track masterpiece. Coming off of a brief hiatus following successful North American and European tours, Fontaines released stand-alone single It’s Amazing To Be Young on February 21, 2025, giving fans an exciting song to look forward to for their upcoming second-leg of tour, which began in Vancouver on April 18th. It’s Amazing To Be Young’s release, though, is where the rumors ignited.
It’s Amazing To Be Young was released on a limited-edition 7” vinyl with a promised B-side that was set to ship the week the tour would start. Would the B-side be released on streaming? Nobody knew. As somebody who didn’t secure the vinyl, I was anxious as to if I would be able to listen to this song on Spotify or not, making rumors of its potential release all the more exciting to me. That’s why, when I logged into Twitter after an exhausting day of studying on the 15th, screenshots from fans in Australia displaying the new album caused my jaw to drop. Fontaines’ socials were silent, it honestly felt like they didn’t even know they were dropping a deluxe album, but as the clock struck midnight, I was met with the most beautiful two new tracks providing a vital extension to an album that I didn’t think needed it. The deluxe version, extending the standard album with three tracks—It’s Amazing To Be Young, Before You I Just Forget (my personal favorite), and Starburster / In Heaven (Lady in the Radiator Song).
I tried to quell my initial disappointment of there just being two new songs by reminding myself: 12 hours prior I had zero clue the B-Side was going to drop on streaming–a win is a win! I did think it was a bit odd they decided to do a “deluxe”. With their third studio album Skinty Fia, they released Skinty Fea go deo roughly 6 months after, with a second disc of live versions of songs on the album alongside covers. Although Before You I Just Forget has quickly become one of my favorite songs on the album, Romance’s deluxe version felt a little anticlimactic to me. I do love Starburster / In Heaven (Lady in the Radiator Song)—a mashup of Romance’s lead single with a song co-written by David Lynch. It deconstructs a big, grungy, hard-hitting song, breaking it down to its bare bones and pairing it with ethereal instrumentals. I was not expecting this pairing, but I absolutely adore it and can no longer imagine Romance without it.
Front-man and lead singer Grian Chatten has described Romance as a “snowglobe”, something that is beautiful and idyllic but can get “shaken” to chaos in a matter of seconds. I find this metaphor almost ironic as I look at my reaction to the surprise extension of Romance. My perception of this album did completely get altered with this extension, as I was let into a larger picture of what Chatten’s, as well as the whole band’s, vision was for this project. I’m excited to hopefully hear some of the new songs live next month when Fontaines visits the Hammerstein Ballroom on the second-leg of their North American tour, and as always, I’m excited to see what else Fontaines D.C. has in store.
