Fontaines D.C. – “Japan” [Video]

Video · XL Recordings

Fontaines D.C. Share Luna Carmoon’s Cinematic Video for “Japan”

The BAFTA-winning filmmaker returns to direct a starry video for one of the most beautiful songs on Dopamine Chamber, out now via XL Recordings.

Dopamine Chamber arrived last Friday, and it has been exactly what the band promised: a decisive move away from the guitar language of their early records and into something larger, stranger, and harder to shake. The record has already received plenty of praise. In our own review, we called “Japan” one of the album’s most memorable moments — a song that lodges itself immediately and doesn’t let go.

“Japan” is the tenth track on the album, and the video was directed by Luna Carmoon, the BAFTA-winning filmmaker who previously worked with the band on the Romance-era triptych for “Here’s The Thing,” “In The Modern World,” and “It’s Amazing To Be Young.” This one stars Angèle Metzger, Charlie Heaton, and Sean Black, and it carries the same cinematic weight as those earlier collaborations: a visual language built for songs that ask questions rather than answer them.

The album was made with producer James Ford between London, the English countryside, and Palermo, where Grian Chatten recorded vocals in a makeshift booth built from mattresses and cushions. It follows Dogrel (2019), A Hero’s Death (2020), the UK and Irish No. 1 Skinty Fia (2022), and Romance (2024), a run that establishes Fontaines D.C. as one of the most consistently inventive bands working. A dedicated episode of BBC’s Later… with Jools Holland airs this week, filmed at London’s Alexandra Palace Theatre, with songs from the performance available globally via the BBC’s YouTube from October 21st. The massive world tour picks up this Wednesday in Lisbon.

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