On August 14th, Fontaines D.C. posted a group photo of the five members shot by photographer Elizaveta Porodina, captioned with nothing but a single number: "5." No album title, no release date—but with 2024's *Romance* standing as their fourth studio album, that number already says it all: album number five is on its way.
That same day, the band dropped a 30-second clip of new track "Marianne" on YouTube, carrying forward the raw, industrial edge from its live debut in Cádiz, Spain the weekend before. Urgent rhythms layered under sweeping strings, with Grian Chatten singing: "This year, you should come and stay here / You can follow my lead, I can help you disappear," before letting the title fly straight out in the chorus: "Marianne, this could be your fatal match."
Worth noting: the August 8th Cádiz show marked Fontaines D.C.'s first full headline show of the year, and onstage they tested out two unreleased tracks at once—alongside "Marianne" was another called "Six Shot Morning," taking a completely different route: spacey synths underpinning a track far quieter and more distant than "Marianne." Two directions in one show—that's the most intriguing part of what this "album five in progress" update is telling us.
Bringing unfinished songs onstage to test them out is actually an old habit for Fontaines D.C. Guitarist Carlos O'Connell mentioned this back in January in an interview with NME: "If a song's written, we'll play it—that's just what we've always done, bringing songs that aren't finished out to a show to test them, it's a great way to test a song." Bassist Conor Deegan III said something similar back in February last year: "We can't stop writing songs, it's just what naturally happens when we get together."
This comeback also carries a heavier context behind it. The band's manager Trevor Dietz passed away earlier this year, described by the band as "the sixth member of the band." Fontaines D.C.'s first show after Dietz's passing was the final live session recorded at BBC's Maida Vale, and the Cádiz show marked their first full ticketed headline show of the year.
Over the coming days, the band will play a run of European dates across France, Switzerland, and Austria, headline Reading & Leeds at the end of the month, then return to Ireland on August 30th to close out Electric Picnic. Album five currently has no confirmed title, tracklist, or release date, and it's still unclear when the full version of "Marianne" will drop.
