U2 say Fontaines D.C. make them want to up their game: “They’ve got something extraordinary”
U2 are big fans of another Irish band in particular, one that they believe is encouraging other bands to level up their game, without them even trying.
Chances are that if you like guitar music, you’ll have heard of Fontaines D.C. The Dublin-based band have just released their fifth album, Dopamine Chamber, and are due to play some huge stadium shows in the summer of 2027.
READ MORE: U2’s With Or Without You was nearly scrapped – until The Edge laid down his guitar parts
Speaking to NME about their own new album, Carnaval de Luz, U2’s Bono and guitarist The Edge were asked what they think of Fontaines, and particularly their reputation as ‘the biggest Irish band since U2’.
“Bands make each other better if they’re any good. I can’t imagine The Beatles being as good as they were without The Stones, I can’t imagine The Stones being as good as they are without The Beatles,” begins Bono.
“Paul [McCartney] writes Let It Be then they put out an album called Let It Bleed you know, All You Need Is Love and then Street Fighting Man. In the ‘90s you had Blur and Oasis. You make each other better. I will admit that when you hear something really unique and original…You have to up your game when people step into the room like Fontaines D.C.,” he declares.
The Edge also celebrate punk duo Lambrini Girls, and the work of Geese – particularly their frontman Cameron Winter: “He’s the man who understands the power of a silhouette,” says Bono. “An original silhouette only comes along every 10 or 20 years.
“I went to see Geese and he was standing with his back to us. He knows about shadows. The band were going at it like Cookie Monster from Sesame Street, the drummer was incredible, but he was pulling some shapes. As a shape-puller, I appreciated that.”
He concludes, “But Grian [Chatten, Fontaines D.C. frontman] has got a very unique spirit. Everyone thinks of singers and songwriters as going around with a diviner, but I think the reason you’re drawn to certain music is like that and you then explain it to yourself later. They just work very well together that band, they’ve got something extraordinary. That was a great song they did with Rosalía [Where Is Gone?].”
In other U2 news, it was recently revealed that The Edge has written a screenplay for a sequel to Elf, the treasured Christmas film starring Will Ferrell. On a recent episode of Obsessed: The Podcast, comedian Andy Richter, who played Morris in the original film, says Elf producer Shauna Robertson received a message saying The Edge had written a script for a sequel and wanted to talk to her about it.
“Somebody reached out to her and said The Edge from U2 has written a sequel to Elf, and he wants to talk to you about it,” Richter explained.
Calling it the “weirdest story”, he added: “Apparently it was fully written. Somewhere in the world, there is an Edge-penned Elf 2 out there. I would love for that to make the light of day. [But] it never happened. She said it’s just one of those things where she’s like, ‘Alright, sure I’ll meet him!’ And then it just petered out and never happened.”
Find out where you can catch Fontaines D.C. on tour, or order U2’s new album, Carnaval de Luz, from their official website.
The post U2 say Fontaines D.C. make them want to up their game: “They’ve got something extraordinary” appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.
Source: www.guitar-bass.net
