Fontaines D.C. hit No. 2 in UK Albums Chart
Congratulations to BIMM Dublin alumni Fontaines D.C. who have bagged the no. 2 spot in the Official UK Album Charts with their second album ‘A Hero’s Death’!
The post-punk band were just pipped by Taylor Swift to no. 1, but did beat the likes of Creeper and Alanis Morissette in the first week of the album’s release. According to the Official Charts Company they did though top the Official Vinyl and Record Store Charts. A huge achievement by the quintet.
Fontaines D.C. have been going from strength to strength, since graduating from BIMM Dublin – they’ve toured internationally and their first album, ‘Dogrel’, charting at no. 9 in 2019 – received critical acclaim, winning album of the year from both Rough Trade and BBC Radio 6 Music. ‘A Hero’s Death’ charting at no. 2 in the UK is the icing on the cake – and hopefully, the first of many more accolades, for the quintet, who met at our Dublin institute and bonded over their love of poetry – a key feature of their recognisable sound.
Speaking on behalf of the band Tom Coll, of Fontaines D.C. described the importance of the band’s experience at BIMM Dublin:
“Our time at BIMM was a really formative one in that we felt like we had the authority to call ourselves musicians and be confident in that identity.”
Of course, the BIMM team who saw them play at college events are incredibly proud of Fontaines D.C’s achievements too – and look forward to seeing their continued success.
“It’s quite fantastic to see the band reach the level of creativity they are currently at,” Alan Cullivan, College Principal at BIMM Music Institute Dublin, says. “Considering the amount of hard work and dedication that have put into the band, they deserve all the success.”
“It really doesn’t seem that long ago we watched the first incarnation of the band play as students at our college gigs, then take their first tentative steps in the smaller venues around Dublin and on to headlining our end of year BIMM Live festival, which was something else to witness.”
“Another great pleasure is hearing the development of the band’s songwriting from the first few bedroom demos Grian sent to us to the fantastic piece of work that ‘A Hero’s Death’ is.
Congratulations to Grian, Tom, Conor, Carlos, Conor and of course Trev [Dietz, Fontaines D.C.’s manager] on a great second album. It’s been quite the journey for the band so far, but I feel confident it’s still only the beginning!”
“At BIMM Dublin’s ‘Live & Lyrical’ gig in October 2014 Fontaines D.C. played an early song they wrote called The One In-Between. Immediately we were struck by their raw energy, charisma and post punk sensibility,” Anne Marie Shields, Head of Careers, Industry Liaison and Events for BIMM Dublin explains. “Over the next few years Fontaines D.C. developed as a really technically tight and sonically excellent band playing a lot of gigs around Dublin, and performing at many BIMM Dublin Events, including Graduation. They headlined our BIMM Live festival in June 2017 at The Tivoli Theatre on Francis Street, where BIMM is based, and it was clear they were about to take the world by storm.”
“At BIMM we provide a high level of support to all our developing artists, by providing them with live performance opportunities, recording opportunities, engagement with industry experts and we support entrepreneurial projects including independent releases.”
While students, BIMM sent Fontaines D.C. to play at Liverpool Sound City and also to play at Craw Festival in Berlin – their first international shows. The band released several independent 7″ singles showing real entrepreneurship and they developed a strong relationship with Rough Trade Records in London. Not long after, they signed to Partisan Records under the excellent guidance of their manager Trevor Dietz. It’s is thrilling to witness their unique creativity develop and we are very excited to follow their worldwide success!”
Congratulations to Fontaines D.C.! Listen to their chart-topping album ‘A Hero’s Death’ on Spotify, Apple Music and more.
