Fontaines DC preview new album with second single "I Don't Belong"

"I Don't Belong" is the opening track from Fontaines DC's second album, and lands after May's lead single and title-track "A Hero's Death".

The new release also arrives with a video directed by their own bassist Connor Deegan III.

Vocalist Grian Chatten says of their new single, "This song is a dismissal of the expectations of other people who consider themselves loyal to you. We wanted it to be a statement, almost like the anti-"Big" [opening song on Dogrel], which is why we put it as the first song on the new album. This sentiment of not belonging can be liberating in a way, but it's also lonely and sad. We wanted to show both sides of that type of loneliness."

Chatten adds, "One verse is about a soldier who has his bravery commended by his country, but throws his medal down and refuses to accept the commendation. He sees it as a hijacking and commodification of his principles. The other verse is about someone causing a ruckus in a bar, refusing to be enticed by any sort of friendliness and kindness, wanting to remain in the wrong corner. I had a few cans before I recorded the vocals, I wanted it to sound like I was playing the role of embittered barfly and feel like the soundtrack of someone swaying themselves home after a cold night out - full of principles but surrounded by nobody."

Deegan says of the video, "We had a whole different video shoot planned in London, then all the restrictions hit so we had to figure out how to do something remotely from back home in Ireland. The idea was to use the limitations to our benefit. To try to match the emotional feel of the song but without being heavy-handed. Telling a visual story parallel to the lyrics. I remotely directed the video from Co.Mayo, on the west coast of Ireland, where I am from. It was shot on location on the east coast of Ireland, in Skerries, where Grian is from."