If you are the one lucky enough to be on the receiving end of the program, you could spend 4 years researching your chosen field, be it songwriting, drums, vocals or guitar, as well as background knowledge on the ins and out of the industry, business practices, masterclass opportunities, and countless opportunities to network and collaborate around the industry. Fontaines D.C. bassist Conor Deegan commented, “We’re honoured to have a scholarship in our name.” Adding, “Our time [at] BIMM gave us time to figure out who we wanted to be as a band. We were given guidance on how to achieve our dreams. We’re looking forward to being able to help someone else succeed at their time there with this scholarship.”

BIMM Institute Dublin’s principal Alan Cullivan had this to say about the new collaboration, “having watched their career grow with great excitement both before and since they completed their studies”. Adding, “At BIMM, we are driven by a commitment to helping Ireland’s next generation of music talent achieve their creative goals and realise their ambitions as artists… to be able to offer that in collaboration with our former students is a bonus.”

 As well as all of this extra work trying to salvage what remains of music in the educational system this country has to offer, Fontaines D.C. are also in the midst of the build-up for their new album Skinty Fia. Set for release on April 20^th, the album will follow up their 2020 album A Hero’s Death. Three singles have been released so far: “Jackie Down The Line”, “I Love You”, and the title track. You can pre-order the new album here, and take a listen to the lead single below.

“Jackie Down The Line” feels like a natural progression the band’s last record, 2020’s A Hero’s Death. Frontman Grian Chatten’s signature beat poet droll is very much still present, however he seems to take a more melodic angle than usual, developing his accentuated spoken word vocals into an eerie singing style reminiscent of songs such as “Oh Such A Spring” from A Hero’s Death.

The instrumentals backing Chatten are suitably dark and moody, with bassist Conor Deegan leading the charge with melancholic, grumbling bass chords, paired with a driving drum beat from Tom Coll. The lyrics of the song marry well with the morose tonality of the instruments, with Chatten singing in the chorus: “I don’t think we’d rhyme, I will wear you down in time, I will hurt you, I’ll desert you, I am Jackie down the line”.

The band teased the impending release of new music last week and have now confirmed that their new album will be released on April 22^nd. Furthermore, the group’s debut live performance of the new single will air tonight on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.

The upcoming record can be pre-ordered here, and you can view the track list down below.

01. ‘In ár gCroíthe go deo’
02. ‘Big Shot’
03. ‘How Cold Love Is’
04. ‘Jackie Down The Line’
05. ‘Bloomsday’
06. ‘Roman Holiday’
07. ‘The Couple Across The Way’
08. ‘Skinty Fia’
09. ‘I Love You’
10. ‘Nabokov’

In other news, Fontaines D.C. will be embarking on a lengthy spring and summer tour in support of their new album, with shows in the UK, mainland Europe, North America, as well as a myriad of festival appearances such as Primavera Sound in Barcelona, Tempelhof in Berlin and Roskilde in Denmark. The band will be playing in the UK in July of this year. Tickets can be purchased here, and the dates can be viewed down below.

02/07/2022- Iveagh Gardens- Dublin
03/07- Iveagh Gardens- Dublin
08/07- Lytham Festival (w/ The Strokes)- Lytham St. Annes
09/07- TRNSMT Festival- Glasgow
15/07- Finsbury Park (w/ Sam Fender)- London