Grian Chatten was “drawn towards darkness” on debut solo album
Fontaines D.C. singer Grian Chatten has revealed he was “drawn towards darkness” while making his debut solo album Chaos For The Fly. The LP is released on June 30th.
The album has been produced by Dan Carey, who has worked with Fontaines D.C. on all three of their records to date. According to Chatten, Chaos For The Fly was recorded with Carey during a two-week gap in his heavy touring schedule with Fontaines and largely written while on the road during a difficult period personally.
“It’s very much like a fantasy and imagination and introversion and retreating,” he said of the album to former BBC Radio 1 presenter Annie Mac in The Irish Times, “because I think that that’s what I needed to nurture when I was on the tour. A lot of it was quite misanthropic and bitter. I was really drawn towards darkness.”
On his hopes for his debut solo offering, Chatten admitted: “I don’t have any desire to reach for the stars or chart or anything like that. I made this record because I feel like I have more of myself to say and to give. I probably will always feel like that, but I like the idea of casting a little light out into the darkness and seeing if anyone grabs on to it.”
Meanwhile, while speaking on the red carpet at the Ivor Novello Awards, Chatten’s Fontaines D.C. bandmates recently discussed with Far Out their future plans and confirmed they have “bits and pieces” in the tank ahead of the recording of their fourth album.
Additionally, when asked for their thoughts on Chatten’s LP, Conor Deegan revealed he’s still yet to hear the record in its entirety, saying: “No, I haven’t heard it. I saw him a couple of days ago, and he said, ‘I’ll email it to you, I’ll email it to you’. He still hasn’t sent it to me.” Carlos O’Connell added that Chatten’s forgetfulness “doesn’t surprise” him and revealed he’d heard the finished version of the album, describing it as “great”.
Watch Chatten perform ‘Fairlies’ on Later… with Jools Holland below.
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