Fontaines D.C. - Skinty Fia
Partisan
Fontaines D.C.'s third studio album heads down a similar line to previous outings. However, it balances a consistency - stylistically and in a quality sense - that they struggled to find on previous projects. Slight changes in sound and overall feel alleviate the creative itch of its wants and needs - nothing major has to occur for the feeling of 'fresh' to come to surface.
Fontaines D.C's deluge of drudgery meets its third outing in Skinty Fia as the Dublin quartet produce their most consistent project to date. Building on previous efforts and delving deeper onto their heavily reverb sunken state, Fontaines' wicked and wet sound finds itself submerged even further down. Overhung by Gothic gaze Skinty Fia's sullen serenade resonates a damp feel. The mundane aspects of life can become over-bearing in their monotony. Stuck in the cycle created for you you find yourself under the thumb. Your moods change, but never in your favour. Bodily functions go against you at every given opportunity - the mind is a slippery slope, some let it slip beyond reach. Losing yourself to your surroundings, life becomes a struggle.
Skinty Fia, in a similar way to A Hero's Death, heavily resembles the soundscapes found on The Cure's 1989 classic 'Disintegration'. It all leads back to the reverb-laden, immersive effects that lace the album throughout. The Gothic nature of the material helps with this also, of course. The ever present feeling of distaste lingers like mildew in the mouth. There's always something to feel sour about.
'The Couple Across the Way' beautifully, but unexpectedly, sets up the closing chapter of the album - a chapter which features two of the singles released in promoting the album with title track 'Skinty Fia' and 'I Love You' - and closing with their most vicious song to date in 'Nabokov'. Nabokov shows a side to the band that needs more attention - visceral with hints of dream pop in the works. Stunning.
A more well structured and consistent project from the Fontaines camp.
Aaaaahhhhhhhh
