Confession delayed overnight: Fontaines D.C. premieres new song "Happy For You" at Leeds Festival
The song was originally supposed to debut at the Reading Festival, but was axed due to technical delays. One night later, Fontaines D.C. finally sang this new song about letting go at the Ritz Festival finale.
"So you know, I'm just happy for you, I swear" - Grian Chatten sang this sentence repeatedly on the stage of the Leeds Art Festival, with a tone somewhere between relief and unwillingness. This is the first live performance of the new song "Happy For You", a slow-burning, bitter-sweet song about the process of trying to accept the end of a relationship.
This premiere was actually a day late. On August 28, when Fontaines D.C. performed at the finale of the Reading Arts Festival, they were delayed for about half an hour due to technical and process issues before taking the stage. They were eventually forced to cut three songs from the set list, including "Happy For You", "Big" and "Hurricane Laughter". The first concert, which was originally planned to be completed in Reading, was postponed to the Leeds Arena the next night - on August 29, the band performed the finale of the main stage The Grid at Bramham Park. This was the first name change after the Reading and Leeds Arts Festival.
The playlist at the Ritz Arena has returned to "Big", but "Hurricane Laughter" is still absent. The other two songs from the new album, "Marianne" and "Six Shot Morning", have been a regular part of the band's performances this month and will also appear on the playlist this time. "Happy For You" is included in Fontaines D.C.'s upcoming fifth album "Dopamine Chamber", which is produced by James Ford and continues 2024's "Romance". It is expected to be released on October 16 through XL Recordings. When the band announced the album news earlier this month, they simultaneously released the cinematic title song "Marianne".
These two performances are the first time that Fontaines D.C. has headlined the Reading and Leeds Festival, and are also an important return to the stage after the death of long-term manager Trevor Dietz in June this year. At the Reading venue, a guitar in the band had "Trevor Forever" written on it. Chatten told the audience: "It's been a tough few months for us, and I'm happy to be back here."
Next, Fontaines D.C. will perform their homecoming show at Electric Picnic in Ireland on the evening of August 30th. After the album is released, the band will also embark on a UK and European tour, passing through Liverpool, Manchester, Glasgow, Leeds and Birmingham, and finally ending at the O2 Arena in London on November 27.
