"Starburster" is a song by Irish rock band Fontaines D.C. It was released on the 17 April 2024 as the lead single from the band's fourth studio album Romance.
The song was the band's first entry on the UK Singles Chart, peaking at No. 57. It received critical acclaim and placed on several publications' year-end lists. It was listed as a top 10 song of the year by Business Insider, Consequence, The Guardian, The Independent and NME. Spin proclaimed it the Song of the Year.
The song is also featured as part of the official soundtrack for EA Sports FC 25[2]
The song is featured in the Borderlands 4 cinematic trailer
Background
The song was written about a panic attack that frontman Grian Chatten suffered at London's St Pancras station.[3] Grian admitted that he wrote the song "as a joke", and when showing the track to the rest of the band, "they laughed. But I was serious."[4]
NME described "Starburster" as a "pensive art-rock beast that fuses elements of electronica and hip-hop".[5]Consequence labelled it "trip-hop-infused" with "hip-hop-esque production" that frames Fontaines D.C. "as much more than just a gang of Irish rockers."[6]Rolling Stone believed it to be a "funky, disco-rock track".[7]Clash wrote of its construction: "An elegant string loop precedes tasteful piano before being consumed by a bulky trip-hop beat."[8]Spin said the song was "fused with a driving drumbeat keeping 4/4 time and layered with electric guitar, trickling piano, and a hauntingly romantic synth sound".[9]
NME gave "Starburster" a five-star review, praising how it "captures that shock of trying to grasp reality amidst all the chaos."[5]The Irish Times rated it four stars out of five, comparing it to Shygirl, The Prodigy and Björk's song "Army of Me".[11]Consequence bestowed the "Song of the Week" honour to the track for its "remarkably well-constructed composition, one that pushes the band into new, unexpected places."[6]
Naming it the "Song of the Year", Spin wrote that "Like Blur evoked for England, Fontaines D.C. reflects the turbulence of everyday life in Ireland."[9]
The official music video was released with the song, directed by Aube Perrie. It features Grian Chatten performing mundane daily activities while wounded.[21] He accidentally kicks his football into an unattended garage of a grocery shop, which he proceeds to explore, and discovers that a door in the building takes him to various film studios. Donning masks, makeup, and costumes from the studios, Chatten uses the garage to appear in various music video shoots. At the end of the video, security closes and locks the door of the garage.
Little Mix member Jade Thirlwall made an uncredited cameo in the video as a red-haired woman in an angel-themed video shoot that Chatten visits. On 19 July 2024, three months after the release of "Starburster", Thirlwall released her debut solo single, "Angel of My Dreams", the video of which was also directed by Perrie at the same time as "Starburster". As such, the video for "Angel of My Dreams" features the same scene, with Chatten making a cameo as one of the angel dancers.[22]
Commercial performance
"Starburster" debuted at No. 62 on the UK Singles Chart, the band's first entry. It peaked at No. 57.[23]
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