Fontaines D.C. go full-on existential meltdown with "Starburster," their first single released from their fourth studio album, Romance. Inspired by a panic attack frontman Grian Chatten had in London's St. Pancras station, the track is a white-knuckled ride through a fractured psyche.
Chatten's vocals are a desperate stream-of-consciousness rant that throws out violence, drugs, and pleas for comfort like a brain on fire. The chorus explodes with a need for any kind of relief, even fleeting pleasure, before diving back into the chaos. Then, in a left turn worthy of Jim Morrison at his most cryptic, Chatten throws out a J.D. Salinger name-drop, hinting at something deeper lurking beneath the panic - a search for authenticity in a world of phonies.
"I think I felt like a sort of like sense of immobility," Chatten told BBC Radio 1's Jack Saunders about the song. Apparently, dissatisfaction with the initial lyrics for the song triggered a full-blown panic attack. He even texted producer James Ford, admitting, "Listen, I can't do this right now."
This breakdown, however, became a creative breakthrough. After the initial wave subsided, Chatten poured his raw emotions straight onto the page. "It is a sort of, like, the writing experience of like listening to yourself as opposed to kind of like, suppressing something," he explained. "I mean, it was just like, what was already there."
The song's title, "Starburster," is not a word you'll find in the dictionary, and it's absent from the lyrics. Here's where things get interesting:
Theory 1: Perhaps "Starburster" is a metaphor for the overwhelming intensity of Chatten's panic attack. The term evokes a sense of chaos, a sudden burst of blinding energy like a star exploding.
Theory 2: Chatten offered a cryptic explanation of the title, suggesting it's about "bracing the necessary delusion" humans create to function. We imagine ourselves safe and cozy within a personal "snow globe," blissfully unaware of all the madness and all the hysteria. "Starburster" might then represent the act of confronting and accepting that external chaos.
Musically, "Starbuster" leans on trip-hop noir vibes first hinted at on
Skinty Fia's title track. The song is fueled by a soundtrack ripped straight from a Massive Attack fever dream. Saturated drums pound relentlessly, a wailing synth adds a layer of existential dread, and Chatten's inhales punctuate the song like panicked gasps for air.
Just when it feels like the whole thing's about to explode, a glimmer of hope emerges. A string-laden bridge offers a fleeting moment of respite, a momentary break in the storm clouds. The dread inevitably creeps back in, a testament to the song's raw exploration of anxiety.
Credit for this anxious atmosphere goes in part to producer James Ford (Arctic Monkeys, Blur, Depeche Mode). Chatten himself cites hip-hop as an influence, particularly the "certain Gorillaz elements" that snuck into the production.
It came from "a real place of aggression and kind of frustration," Chatten told Jack Saunders. "And all of the vowel sounds can go first. And I kind of had to just figure out what the vowel sounds were."
A sinister and cinematic video directed by Aube Perrie (Megan Thee Stallion, Harry Styles) captures the raw anxiety and chaos that fuels the song. A cast of characters, all seemingly on the fringes of society, search desperately for their place in the world. A machine-gun-wielding Chatten embodies this sense of unease, his battered face a reflection of the inner turmoil. He chain-puffs his inhaler, a desperate attempt to control the chaos.
Fontaines D.C. gave "Starbuster" its live debut on May 7, 2024, when they appeared as the musical guests on the NBC chat show The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.
Chatten wrote most of the song on his laptop, which explains why there's plenty of chopped-up strings. "It was quite a hip-hop creative process," commented drummer Tom Coll to Apple Music.
