Fontaines D.C.: Skinty Fia [PARTISAN]

Why you'll love it

This is Partisan's LP of the Dublin band's third album, the record that took them to No. 1 in both Ireland and the UK. It also won them the Brit Award for International Group in 2023.

About the album

The title comes from an old Irish saying that drummer Tom Coll's great-aunt used to use. Skinty Fia roughly means the damnation of the deer, and the cover nods to the Irish elk, the giant deer that once roamed the island. It's a fitting image for a record about Irishness, distance and what you carry with you when you leave.

The band wrote demos in Dublin during lockdown, then recorded in London in 2021 with longtime producer Dan Carey, writing by day and recording at night. Grian Chatten's new accordion, a Christmas gift from his mother, creeps into the sound, and Primal Scream's XTRMNTR and Roni Size were touchstones for recreating electronic textures with guitars. "In Ár gCroíthe Go Deo" opens with a refrain in Irish, "Jackie Down the Line" lurches and sways, "Big Shot" is Carlos O'Connell's song about fame and ego, and "I Love You" builds to a furious peak.

The Line of Best Fit gave it a perfect 10 and NME gave it five stars. The elk on the cover is long extinct, which makes it the one member of the Fontaines D.C. camp with no tour dates booked.

Also at Kops: more Fontaines D.C. on vinyl · browse Punk

Tracklist

Listen

On Partisan (cat# PTKF3016-1), the 2022 album.