Kurt Vile Joins Fontaines D.C. for “Roman Holiday” at La Route du Rock

Fontaines D.C. ended their set at La Route du Rock in Fort-de-Saint-Père with a direct reference to one of their musical inspirations. During “Roman Holiday,” the Irish band brought out Kurt Vile, the musician Grian Chatten has cited as a key influence behind the 2022 Skinty Fia track.

Chatten previously told Rolling Stone that seeing Vile perform in Croatia made him reconsider the band’s own stage energy. He envied Vile’s calm before a set, contrasting it with Fontaines D.C.’s ritual of slapping each other in the face minutes before going on. That feeling fed into “Roman Holiday,” which Chatten described as part of an “easy listening” approach the band used on Skinty Fia—a kind of Trojan horse for their ideas.

The collaboration follows a week of new material from the band. They debuted a couple of new songs live and shared a teaser featuring the phrase “Dopamine Chamber,” which may point to their next album. No release details have been confirmed.