When the news about the Fontaines D.C listening parties dropped, I didn‘t have much hope because events like these rarely happen near me, but I was lucky enough that one record store relatively close to me hosted one. On Thursday, Groove Zone Records in Koblenz, Germany, was filled with a couple Fontaines fans who were eager to listen to Dopamine Chamber in full before it‘s release on October 16th. The staff was more than accommodating and I found myself in a few discussions about the band‘s new experimental sound and new favourite songs.
The fact that the goodies were evenly distributed across the attendees rather than just handed out first come first serve, really highlighted that this event was more about the community and bringing music lovers together for such a special event, than anything else.
I‘m not going to share anything about the album itself… yet. Come back next week for the full review, but expect to be blown away by a sound that‘s fresh, exciting, still weirdly Fontaines and at the same time very reminiscent of 80s synth sound in more than one song. In the meantime, if you attended one of the listening parties - feel free to hit our dms. Let‘s talk!
Thanks again to Groove Zone Records for hosting this event and crafting such a lovely atmosphere. If you‘re from around here I can‘t recommend checking them out enough.
Words by
Marie Müller, 2026.