When Aube Perrie first introduced the Starburster character in Fontaines D.C.’s Romance campaign opener, few expected frontman Grian Chatten’s lime-green double would wander into one of music video’s strangest multiverses. The character cropped up not just in Starburster, but in JADE’s Angel Of My Dreams, RM’s Lost, and even Salvatore Ganacci and Tommy Cash’s surreal Ass & Titties — a wormhole linking wildly different worlds through one anxious, bewildered figure.
Perrie now closes the circle with is film Desire. Shot across the band’s recent tour, the video sees the green-clad gatecrasher return to stalk Fontaines themselves. Perrie himself steps in front of the lens, rigging GoPros and handhelds to track the elusive double in a grainy, 90s-inspired chase that blurs documentary and fiction. It’s a fitting finale: the Starburster who once slipped into other artists’ realities now comes back home to confront his own band.
The release also follows the band’s recent collaboration with mental health charity CALM, for which they launched a T-shirt featuring the cover art from their fourth album to raise funds and awareness for suicide prevention. It’s a cause close to the band, with Chatten having spoken openly about his own struggles with anxiety on tour and the need for better mental health support for artists.
