Fontaines D.C. and ROSALÍA join forces on orchestrated album duet

Fontaines D.C. have unveiled ‘Where Is Gone?’, an orchestrated duet with ROSALÍA and the first artist collaboration to appear on one of their albums. As Spin reports, the track is the third preview of the Irish band’s forthcoming fifth album Dopamine Chamber, due 16 October via XL Recordings.

Produced by James Ford, the song finds frontman Grian Chatten and ROSALÍA intertwining their voices over lush instrumentation. It follows previously released singles ‘Marianne’ and ‘Tongue’ from the follow-up to 2024’s Romance.

A pairing rooted in personal history

For guitarist Carlos O’Connell, the collaboration carries meaning beyond the musical. Having recently reconnected with his Spanish heritage, O’Connell says he has admired ROSALÍA since her debut album. ‘What really excited me was how she was keeping a Spanish tradition of music alive, which in a spiritual way felt akin to what we’ve tried to do with Irish music,’ he said. ‘For someone with roots in both countries, it’s been beautiful to see. She’s an artist who’s blown me away at every stage since.’

In August 2026, Side-Line reported that James Ford, who also produced Romance, recorded Dopamine Chamber across sessions in London, the English countryside and Palermo, where Chatten laid down vocals in a makeshift booth built from mattresses and cushions, and that the label describes the record as a move away from guitars towards cold synthesiser tones, marching drums, samples and triggers, with several songs carrying no guitar at all.

ROSALÍA’s name has also surfaced on another major album. U2 has named the song ‘The Mirror Maker’ after her on its new album Carnaval De Luz, though she does not appear on the track. ‘We normally just write songs about people in jail or dead people,’ Bono recently told Rolling Stone. ‘You know, dead heroes, or trying to get them out of jail. This is just celebrating somebody just because they’re an extraordinary artist.’

Live dates and a Roundhouse appearance

Fontaines D.C. recently announced their biggest headline shows to date, with arena dates across the UK and Europe through the end of 2026, followed by major outdoor and stadium performances in 2027. Two days after the release of Dopamine Chamber, the band will play an intimate show at London’s Roundhouse in support of suicide prevention organisation CALM.

In August 2026, The Needle Drop quoted bassist Conor ‘Deego’ Deegan on the album’s themes: ‘Our albums have always questioned a sense of place. First Dublin, then being away from Dublin, and then trying to find the romance elsewhere. On this record, the question became: where do you escape to?’