genre indie
Fontaines D.C. have dropped “It’s Amazing To Be Young,” their first slice of new material since the release of fourth LP Romance last August.
Produced by James Ford, the song will be available on limited edition 7” vinyl on April 18, alongside another new track entitled “Before You I Just Forget.” The release is available to preorder now via the Dublin band’s website.
“It’s Amazing To Be Young” was written in the presence of guitarist Carlos O’Connell’s child, the band have shared. “It sounded more like a lullaby or a music box then, but with the same lyric – ‘it’s amazing to be young’,” explained bassist Conor Deegan III in a press release.
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“The feeling of hope a child can give is profound and moving, especially for young men like us. That sense of wanting to create a world for them to grow up in happily,” he continued. ”It’s a feeling that fights against the cynicism that can often overtake us in the modern world. So we wanted to declare which side we were on – it really is amazing to be young.
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“We are still free, and want to make that feeling spread,” he continued. “We want to protect it for the others around us, and maybe in doing that, we can also help protect it for ourselves.”
The track precedes a huge summer of live activity for Fontaines D.C., who will perform U.K. outdoor shows in Manchester, Newcastle, Cardiff and London, with the latter taking place at the capital’s 45,000-capacity Finsbury Park. The run will follow spring headline tours around Asia, Australia, South America and North America.
It arrives accompanied by a video from the BAFTA-winning filmmaker Luna Carmoon who previously directed the videos for Fontaines D.C.’s “Here’s The Thing” and “In The Modern World”. Watch the clip in full below.
“I love this new track – it’s one of my favourites Fontaines have done and I love that I got to complete the trilogy of videos for it,” Carmoon said. “It was all natural and kind of a surprise that the three videos came together. I’ve got to work with such a beautiful team and was really given the space and breath to create the worlds that automatically came to me when hearing the music.”Upon the release of Romance, Fontaines D.C. achieved their fourth consecutive top 10 studio album on the U.K.’s Official Albums Chart, while it landed at No. 97 in the U.S. – their highest entry to date on the Billboard 200.
The charity album Good Music to Lift Los Angeles makes a chart-topping debut, as the 90-track set arrives atop Billboard’s Compilation Albums chart (dated Feb. 22).
The effort — which boasts acts such as Dawes, R.E.M. and Perfume Genius — was sold for 24 hours only through Bandcamp as a digital download on Feb. 7. The price of the album was $20.25, but customers could choose to pay more. Proceeds from the project benefit the Los Angeles Regional Food Bank and California Community Foundation’s Wildfire Fund, both supporting individuals impacted by the January wildfires in the Los Angeles area.
In total, the Good Music to Lift Los Angeles album sold just over 10,000 copies in the week ending Feb. 13 in the U.S., according to Luminate. The last non-soundtrack compilation to sell more in a single week was another benefit project, Cardinals at the Window: A Benefit for Flood Relief in Western North Carolina, which sold nearly 12,000 and debuted atop the Compilation Albums chart dated Oct. 19, 2024.
The 90-track project is comprised entirely of previously unreleased recordings, including new songs, covers, remixes, live versions and unreleased demos. Other acts featured on the collection include K.Flay, Faye Webster, Death Cab for Cutie, The Postal Service, Mac DeMarco, Neko Case and TV On the Radio.
Good Music to Lift Los Angeles also launches at No. 5 on the Top Album Sales chart and in the top 40 on Top Alternative Albums (No. 16), Independent Albums (No. 20), Top Rock Albums (No. 20), Top Rock & Alternative Albums (No. 26). It was also the top-selling digital download album in the U.S. in the week ending Feb. 13.
As Good Music to Lift Los Angeles opens at No. 5 on the Top Album Sales chart, let’s take a look at the rest of the chart’s top 10. Kendrick Lamar’s GNX reenters the list at No. 1 for its first week on top (116,000; up 10,100%) after its physical release on CD, vinyl and cassette; The Weeknd’s Hurry Up Tomorrow falls 2-1 in its second week (29,000; down 92%), Dream Theater’s Parasomnia starts at No. 3 (16,000) and Chappell Roan’s chart-topping The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess dips 3-4 (14,000; up 24%).
Closing out the top 10: Sabrina Carpenter’s Short n’ Sweet slips 5-6, Billie Eilish’s Hit Me Hard and Soft is steady at No. 7, the Wicked film soundtrack falls 6-8, Stray Kids’ former No. 1 HOP descends 4-9 and Lamar’s Good Kid, M.A.A.d City jumps 18-10.
Canadian rocker Bryan Adams’ sold-out show at Perth, Australia‘s RAC Arena was unexpectedly canceled on Sunday night (Feb. 9) after a massive fatberg—an accumulation of fat, grease, and rags—caused a significant blockage in the city’s sewer system.
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The unforeseen issue led to water overflow near the venue, making it unsafe for concertgoers to attend.
Fans were left waiting outside the venue for hours as updates trickled in. Initially, the delay was attributed to a leak in the septic tanks, but at around 9 p.m.—the time Adams was scheduled to take the stage—officials confirmed the show’s postponement.
“Last night’s concert could not proceed due to an external Perth Water Corporation issue, which was unable to be fixed in time. The issue, which impacted all of Wellington Street, meant that it was deemed unsafe for patrons to enter RAC Arena,” Frontier Touring said in a statement. “Tickets will be automatically refunded in full (including refundable ticket purchase, if relevant) to the original payment method used for purchase and patrons do not need to take any action.”
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“Patrons should allow approximately 30 business days for the refund to appear in their account. (Please do not contact Ticketek regarding your refund.)”
“The cancellation of show is bitterly disappointing, and we thank fans for their understanding that while every effort was made for the show to proceed, this matter was outside of the control of Bryan Adams, Frontier Touring and RAC Arena.”
The Water Corporation, which manages Perth’s water and sewage systems, confirmed the blockage was due to a fatberg. CEO Pat Donovan explained the situation to 6PR on Monday morning: “I assure you that our people worked really hard to clear a large blockage, which is called a fatberg, in one of our key water mains under Wellington Street.”
He added that while alternative solutions, such as transporting the wastewater away, were explored, officials ultimately concluded they would not be able to keep up with the needs of 16,000 attendees inside the venue.
Adams, who is in Australia as part of his So Happy It Hurts tour, is set to continue with scheduled performances in Sydney, Brisbane, and Melbourne later this week.
While Adams himself has yet to publicly comment on the incident, the unexpected cancellation will undoubtedly go down as one of the most bizarre reasons for a postponed arena show in recent memory.
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