Grian Chatten's Voice Gets Warped Into Something Otherworldly on Fontaines D.C.'s "Tongue"
The second single from Fontaines D.C.'s upcoming album *Dopamine Chamber* runs frontman Grian Chatten's vocals through a sampler, bending them into a strange, distorted new shape.
Grian Chatten's voice gets fed through a sampler and twisted into a tone guitarist Carlos O'Connell describes as a "malevolent alien creature," layered over jagged guitars, unsettling piano and strings — that's the immediate impact of Fontaines D.C.'s new single "Tongue." The track appears on the band's fifth album, *Dopamine Chamber*, set for release via XL Recordings on October 16, and marks the second single following last month's lead track "Marianne."
The song's production continues the band's deliberate strategy of downplaying that "real band" feel. Guitarist Conor Curley says: "We picked up where *Romance* left off, holding back the live-band elements until they're actually needed." Bassist Conor 'Deego' Deegan III borrowed a recording technique favored by Prince, adjusting tape speed to create a loose bassline that sounds closer to a sampled hip-hop low end than a traditional band bass tone.
The lyrics are equally twisted and sticky, with Chatten singing: "Deep inside your brain / I feel the same / Deeper as we go / I think you know..." The vocals, bass, and instrumentation all push in the same direction throughout the track — taking elements that once felt human and rendering them into strange, unsettling shapes.
"Tongue" made its live debut last week during the band's Brooklyn, New York show, and after footage of the performance surfaced, some fans picked up on a distinct Korn vibe. Fontaines D.C. spoke to NME back in 2024 about their love for the nu-metal band, so the comparison might not be a coincidence. The music video was directed by John Angus Stewart and was also shot on location in New York City.
The band has also recently played two unreleased new songs live, "Six Shot Morning" and "Happy For You," the latter making its debut at Leeds Festival. The full tracklist for *Dopamine Chamber* was revealed earlier this month, and it includes a collaboration with Rosalía titled "Where Is Gone?"
Speaking about the album's overarching concept, Chatten described it this way: "The album itself is a dopamine chamber. You walk in, and we test all kinds of mind- or mood-altering musical fragments on you." He also drew a comparison to the band's previous album, the 2024 Mercury Prize-nominated *Romance*: "I think *Romance* was maybe 60% human and 40% eroded by automation and emotional depletion. This time it feels flipped — 60% eroded, the mask sitting closer to the face. I think stripping away the hope and honestly reflecting the ugliness is more powerful — this one needed to feel like a catastrophic warning."
The band will embark on a major run of UK and Ireland shows next summer, including two nights at Slane Castle and back-to-back dates at Manchester's Heaton Park, with Little Simz and Viagra Boys opening the UK shows and Hayley Williams joining as a guest for the Ireland dates. This outdoor tour follows a European venue tour this fall, which itself carries forward the momentum from the band's headline set at Reading & Leeds — NME gave their Reading Festival performance this year a four-and-a-half-star review. The 2027 schedule also includes dates in Italy, Germany, Japan, Australia, and New Zealand.
