A Hero's Death

Following the release of Dogrel, Fontaines D.C. embarked on a spring 2019 tour with British punk rock band, IDLES. This included a North American leg from March to May 2019. Following the North American leg of the tour, the band performed at several European summer music festivals including Glastonbury, Roskilde, Viva, StereoLeto, TRNSMT, Dour, Y Not, Haldern Pop, and Ypsigrock. Following the European summer festival circuit, the band went on a fall 2019 North American tour as the headlining act. The band finishing touring for Dogrel with a headlining tour across Europe from November 2019 concluding in February 2020.

Around mid February into April 2020, the band began recording material for their second studio album. The album will be produced by Dan Carey, who produced their debut album, Dogrel.[1] On 5 May 2020, the band released the single "A Hero's Death" with a corresponding music video.[2] With the release of the single, the band announced the release of the album for 31 July 2020.[3]

According to lead singer, Grian Chatten, the album's name was inspired by a line in a play by Irish writer Brendan Behan. Chatten said the album title is "an effort to balance sincerity and insincerity, but more broadly it’s about the battle between happiness and depression, and the trust issues that can form tied to both of those feelings".[3][2] The album cover features a statue of the Irish mythological demigod Cú Chulainn entitled "The Dying Cuchulain" by Oliver Sheppard.[4]

According to the band's press release of the new album, the sound ventures away from their post-punk sound. The band said that bands such as Suicide, The Beach Boys, Beach House, and Broadcast were influential in the sound of the album.[1]

The first single from A Hero's Death was the self-title single, which was released on 5 May 2020 as well as the music video. The video was directed by Hugh Mulhern and produced by Aaron McEnaney and Theresa Adebiyi. The music video features a fictional late night show called The Georgie Barnes Show starring a jaded talk show host named Georgie Barnes, (played by Aidan Gillen) who has a co-host who is a puppet. The series features the talk show host greeting the band prior to them playing a song on the late night show, but becoming existential when the band seems to show more appreciation to the puppeteer (Bryan Quinn) and the puppet rather than the host.

The album's second single "I Don't Belong" was released on 9 June 2020.

Track listing and times via Apple Music.[5]

• A Hero's Death on iTunes
• A Hero's Death at Partisan Records