It was already clear from the Irish band’s slower and softer material that Chatten was an adaptable vocalist who could adopt more sensitive vocals when necessary, and Chaos For The Fly does nothing but cement that.

Nearly every song features acoustic guitar, a standard for rock singers going solo, but Chatten also incorporates piano, strings and brass into many of the songs, most overtly in “Bob’s Casino,” which begins an incredible three-song run in the middle of the album.

It’s followed by “All Of The People,” a cavernous piano-led piece that takes a deep, sharp look at the music industry and its cutthroat, every-man-for-himself structure. “Don’t let anyone tell you that they wanna be your friend/They just wanna get close enough to take away the final shot/They will celebrate the things that make you who you’re not/They will criticize,” Chatten sings.

Chatten’s’ fascination with the Beach Boys has been acknowledged before, and “East Coast Bed” is the first time a member of the band has emerged with a song that sounds inherently like the Wilson brothers. With its layered instrumentation and earworm chorus, it’s the most pleasant song on the record, once again demonstrating Chatten’s skills not only as a singer but as an architect of music. The chorus instrumentation and production is somehow spare but enveloping, featuring on first listen what seems to be only Chatten’s voice, drums and distant piano chords but is instead a wall of noise that sees one electric guitar note stretched for the duration of the chorus.

Fontaines D.C. is one of those bands where every member is capable of going off and fronting their own great band or releasing their own solo records, which is what makes them so impressive as a tight-knit, cohesive unit.

Grian Chatten’s Chaos For The Fly is the first in hopefully a long, long line of him and his bandmates continuing to create great music. There’s not many lead singers I would’ve rather heard a solo album from than him.

Pre-order Chaos For The Fly by Grian Chatten HERE