Grian Chatten has opened up about how it was a “career high” to work with Rosalía on Fontaines D.C.‘s new album, and shared that he believes that “her heart is similar to” his own.
Yesterday (Tuesday October 13), the Dublin rock giants dropped the cinematic single ‘Where Is Gone?, which sees them join forces with the Spanish pop star. It marked the latest to be shared ahead of their 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).
Unlike the previously shared tracks – including as-yet-unreleased songs ‘Six Shot Morning’ and ‘Happy For You’ which have been debuted at live shows – the Rosalía collab takes on a much more elegant, theatrical sound, and explores themes of heartache and reluctantly letting go.
Now, frontman Grian Chatten has spoken about what drew him to the singer and made him want to reach out to her and make her the first ever guest vocalist on one of their tracks.
“I’ve always had a sneaking suspicion that there is one grand thing that I’m trying to impart on the world before I get old and die,” he told NPR when asked about the “kinship” the two of them seem to have.
“[It’s like] there’s one thing that I’ll always be chasing. I’ve got a suspicion that her heart is similar to mine,” he added. “She’s such an incredible arranger and composer and lyricist. It’s just so humbling that she was into singing on something that we had arranged.
“It’s a career high for me, for sure.”
The comments align with what the frontman told MOJO too, when he was asked why he wanted to collaborate with the ‘Magnolias’ singer
“Because I think her voice, there’s a classical nature to it, but there’s also something kind of eerily sort of dystopian in it,” he explained. “She was on tour in America, so we sent her over the track, and within 48 hours she’d sent back this vocal.”
“I just think she’s a bit of an auteur,” he added. “She reminds me of Bowie and Björk. She has a terrifying level of talent. So it’s an honour.”
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As well as Chatten, the collaboration also meant a lot to Carlos O’Connell as well, as he 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 when the song first dropped. “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.”
Already, ‘Dopamine Chamber’ 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’.”
Ahead of the album release on Friday, Fontaines will be playing an intimate gig at London’s Roundhouse tomorrow (Thursday October 15) which will celebrate the record and raise money for mental health charity CALM.
Next summer, Fontaines will play noticeably bigger shows across the UK and Ireland, including two nights at Slane Castle and a double-header at Manchester’s Heaton Park. 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.
Upcoming gigs follow their 2026 UK and European arena tour, which arrives off the back of this summer’s Reading & Leeds headline slots. Find any remaining tickets for those shows here.
