Fontaines D.C. have returned with the soundtrack for those dreaded January blues with their new single, ‘Jackie Down The Line’.
The new single is the first track from their forthcoming third album, Skinty Fia, which arrives on April 22nd through Partisan Records. While they previously quipped that their new record would be “disco”, fans of Fontaines needn’t worry as ‘Jackie Down The Line’ is thankfully a continuation of their journey so far rather than a dramatic change in direction.
Rather than being a dancefloor filler, the heartfelt track retains that sense of gloom associated with frontman Grian Chatten thanks to his confessional, self-loathing brand of lyricism which has made him emerge as one of the great modern-day songwriters. “I will wear you down in time, I will hurt you, I’ll desert you, I am Jackie down the line,” he mournfully sings on the new release.
Speaking to Rolling Stone, Chatten said, “I think it’s interesting in this world where it’s incredibly important to be good, it just makes it very, very alluring to write from the perspective of somebody who doesn’t want to be good or doesn’t feel the need to pretend to be good. I think the song would be summed up with the word ‘doom’.”
While lyrically, ‘Jackie Down The Line’ doesn’t enter previously uncharted waters, there is a softness to the single that feels like a leap forward for the group as they land at a maturer sound. The title is a play on the word ‘Jackeen’, a derogatory term used against people from their hometown, which they have now swapped behind for London, and their new life is a theme that runs through Skinty Fia.
Speaking to BBC 6 Music, Chatten opened up about the barrage of unsavoury insults they’ve faced and how their Irishness has been a comfort blanket that the band relied upon while making the record. After their inspiring show at Manchester Academy last year, I left feeling like they were the band of their generation, and ‘Jackie Down The Line’ has only reiterated that sentiment.
