A Hero's Death
Joint society review.
Fontaines D.C. had success from the start, with their debut album, Dogrel (2019), receiving widespread acclaim, along with nominations for the Mercury Prize and the Choice Music Prize. Just one year later, on the 6th August 2020, they released A Hero’s Death. The five-piece moved away from their original sound and instead incorporating more dream-like, psychedelic aspects inspired by artists such as the Beastie Boys and Beach House.
Upon its release, A Hero’s Death was set to knock Taylor Swift’s Folklore down from the number one spot. This led to a well-publicised chart battle, and some last-minute marketing tactics. Swift’s UK Label, EMI, announced that the physical CD version of Folklore would be released early on the 4th August, and, as a result, A Hero’s Death debuted at number two in the UK chart. Speaking to Metro, vocalist Grian Chatten said, ‘the idea that a massive corporation is afraid of losing face to a group of lads from Dublin is hilarious to me,’ and described it as a ‘David versus Goliath’ situation.
As a society, 46% of us would definitely listen to the album again, and another 46% probably wouldn’t. The final 8% could take it or leave it. Our average rating was 5.9/10, lower than Elizabeth Nelson’s (Pitchfork) rating of 8.1, but higher than Anthony Fantano’s (The Needle Drop) rating of 4.
Some positives from the album included the progression of the album, with ‘what seemed like different outlooks at the end compared to the start.’ Some people particularly enjoyed the riffs and ‘catchy hooks’, stating that the guitarist did a ‘stellar job’. Chatten’s ‘low, grungy voice’ was said to work ‘incredibly well’ with the instrumentals, and one society member noticed how the album seemed to be ‘split into two types of tracks with the first kind being full of energy, and the second kind leaving a mellow and nostalgic impression.’
Songs that evidently stood out included the title track, A Hero’s Death, namely due to the ‘changes in perspective’ that ‘gave some level of progression and development throughout the album’. The music video follows a charismatic show host’s existential crisis as he finds himself overshadowed by his puppet-side kick, endlessly repeating the same routine over Chatten’s ever-present mantra, ‘Life ain’t always empty.’ The show host was played by Aiden Gillen, best known as Petyr ‘Littlefinger’ Baelish on Game of Thrones. The actor was already a Fontaines D.C. fan, and, according to Chatten, offered to star in the video with only a pint as payment.
A Lucid Dream was also a well-received track, with one society member stating that it has ‘the best intro of any modern music.’ The song details the band’s quick rise to fame, and the identity crisis that came along with it. For one person, it was the instrumentals that stood out, and ‘the slow muffled verse building up for the last part made the song even better for me.’
One of the biggest issues that people had with the album was the repetition. Repetitive lyrics were a common theme on the LP, which some found to ‘seem a bit odd.’ One response stated, ‘The lyrics were incredibly bland for the majority of the project. In many cases it was just repetition of the same one or two lines, which weren’t delivered impressively.’ The song Televised Mind, though labelled as a ‘fucking tune’ by some, was criticised by others for the ‘monotonous repetition’ of ‘TELEVISED MIND X50.’ One response explained that ‘it’s hard to pay attention to the message being emphasised through repetition when it feels like everything is being repeated.’
It was commonly said that many of the tracks were ‘forgettable and boring’ accompanied by ‘potentially interesting but unpleasant instrumentals.’ The vocals fell flat for many, often described as ‘distant’, ‘whiny’ and ‘lackluster.’ Potentially the main criticism that can be taken away from our review is that Fontaines could have done more with the album, as a few of us didn’t feel particularly ‘touched or impacted’ by it.
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