Grian Chatten has described collaborating with Rosalía on Fontaines D.C.’s forthcoming album Dopamine Chamber as one of the defining moments of his career.
The Spanish superstar, 34, features on the track Where Is Gone?, set for release this Friday (16.10.26), and the band’s 31-year-old frontman admitted it was genuinely humbling that she agreed to contribute to their project.
Speaking to NPR, Grian explained that he has long felt there exists a single overarching idea he’s striving to express to the world before he grows old and passes away, and he suspects Rosalía shares that same impulse. He praised her as an extraordinary arranger, composer, and lyricist, and said it was deeply humbling that she agreed to sing on something they had crafted. For him, it represents a career peak.
He also reflected on collaborating with Damon Albarn for a charity initiative, noting that it’s hard not to be swept up by the sheer passion Albarn brings to music. He described a sense of almost martyr-like dedication, suggesting Albarn decided long ago that he might withdraw for a time and reconnect with everyone later, in their eighties. But, he added, that is a life well spent.
Grian, along with Damon Albarn — the Blur and Gorillaz icon aged 58 — and spoken-word artist Kae Tempest, joined forces for the Flags for the War Child fundraiser Help(2).
Rosalía’s links to Irish rock don’t stop there. The singer also influenced and helped shape the Spanish lyrics on U2’s The Mirror Maker (Rosalía) from the band’s forthcoming Carnaval de Luz album.
Appearing on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon last week, she spoke about frontman Bono, saying: “I don’t know him personally, but he texted me to say he had a new project and this song, The Mirror Maker.”
Rosalía laughed that he had created some words of his own.
She added to him: “I don’t know, but feel free to invent your own language.”
She described it as a tremendous honour to collaborate with the 66-year-old music veteran.
She stated: “Bono is a legend. It’s incredible.”
Bono has recently admitted he didn’t want to “look like a stalker” when calling Rosalía to seek her permission to name the song after her.
