Fontaines D.C. share cover of Lana Del Rey’s ‘Say Yes To Heaven’
As their star continues to rise off the back of their new album Romance, Fontaines D.C. levelled up once again as they made their debut on BBC Radio 1’s Live Lounge. Alongside a performance of their own track, ‘Favourite’, they delivered a cover of Lana Del Rey’s ‘Say Yes To Heaven’.
The Irish rock band and the hyper-Americana pop star should be worlds apart. For punk-rock purists, especially, there will be a sub section of fans surprised by the line of connection being drawn between Fontaines D.C. and Lana Del Rey. However, for fans of Del Rey who are better acquainted with her own artistic world, the link between the two acts makes fan more sense than what’s on the surface.
Look beyond her pop star sheen and Del Rey becomes a deeply literary and poetic artist. Throughout her discography she’s referenced the likes of Walt Whitman, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Allen Ginsberg, Sylvia Plath and a whole host of other classic novels and beloved writers. The same can be said for Fontaines, who routinely hark back to traditional Irish literature.
The world of the band’s new album, Romance, also seems to have the same dark, cinematic edge that so much of Del Rey’s music captures. Tracks like ‘Here’s The Thing’ and the titular ‘Romance’ are gothic and seductive.
Fontaines boast the same sort of emotional melodrama that Del Rey has mastered and has led the charge on ever since her breakout back in the early 2010s. So for Fontaines, a band clearly on a mission to expand their sound, cinematic style and, quite obviously, their status, a link-up with Lana is a good way to do it.
They pull it off perfectly. The band took on ‘Say Yes To Heaven’, a track that was previously a cultish beloved unreleased cut before it got an eventual official release in 2023. Delivered through their own rougher rock sound, Grian Chatten’s growling voice seems to highlight a sinister edge to the devotional lyrics, darkening lyrics like “I’ve got my eye on you”. With the band swelling around him, it gives it a true gothic edge, making it sound more like a The Cure song than a 2020s pop tune.
It’s stunning from start to finish, celebrating the compositional greatness of Del Rey’s original tune while still making it their own. It’s like they took the song and brought it right into the world of Romance, giving it a gritty edge but the same neon shine that colours the record. No doubt, Del Rey herself would approve.
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