Skinty Fia, the 2022 album by Fontaines DC, was one of my Top 10 Records of 2022. And my list isn’t the only one that saw it place high on the standard year-end lists. The album is astonishingly good from start to finish with several powerhouse tracks that warrant countless repeat listens. I can’t tell you how many times I listened to the hard-to-pronounce opener or “Roman Holiday” or even “I Love You.”
One list it graced was that of Rough Trade, and to commemorate its placement, they issued a limited edition exclusive 10-inch dubbed Skinty Fia Sessions in partnership with Fontaines DC’s label Partisan Records. I was able to get my hands on one of the 2,000 copies pressed. Let’s take a look inside.
Unboxing Skinty Fia Sessions
The cover is quite reminiscent of the original Skinty Fia album art, if only due to the script that reads “Skinty Fia” — it matches in font, placement, color, and size to what you find on the original album art for the LP.
The image itself mimics looking through a door peep hole, an intimate glimpse into a room where people are going about their business. The back is similar, cast in a red duo-tone like glow that again relates to what you see on the band’s LP album art.
The 10-inch comes with a printed inner sleeve and was pressed to black wax.
The packaging is nice, and I like the tie-ins with the band’s original LP, but it’s the music that stands out.
Here’s my coverage, including the review and unboxing of the 10-inch:
Skinty Fia Sessions Album Review
The snippet on Rough Trade’s website reads:
“The Skinty Fia Sessions 10″ features reimagined, emotionally resonant, stripped-back versions of “The Couple Across The Way,” “Jackie Down The Line,” “Roman Holiday,” and “I Love You,” from Fontaines D.C.’s critically-acclaimed third album, Skinty Fia, released on Partisan Records.”
Skinty Fia Sessions, Rough Trade US Product Page
And that’s precisely what you get, but even as exciting as “reimagined,” “emotionally resonant,” and “stripped back” sounds, it comes nowhere near to conveying just how great these renditions of the songs are.
“The Couple Across The Way” in my opinion is better than the album version. Stripped down, it seems to stand out better with the lyrics.
The other three were album favorites of mine, and there’s something incredibly exciting to me about alternate versions of songs I love. Especially when the versions are so different from the studio release.
Someone uploaded the EP to YouTube for our listening pleasure. You can check it out below:a
More Sessions Please!
This 10-inch is what I love about sessions. When I first started my music blog FensePost in 2006, I found inspiration in a then-new blog called Daytrotter. I loved their concept of recording bands that passed through town on their collection of vintage instruments.
Each session was, in itself, intimate for just that reason. I miss that blog, and I wish more would have been pressed to vinyl.
In fact, I’d love to see that become the trend.
Labels take note: rather than pressing countless variants on highly limited edition spanning a rainbow of colors, instead press alternate renditions of songs, press limited edition sessions like this, press quality demos that show bands’ songwriting process.
Rough Trade also pressed a 12-inch of demos off Mitski’s new album, and after receiving my order I immediately regretted not picking that up as well. While Mitski’s exclusive demos release is out of print, you can still grab a copy of Skinty Fia Sessions from Rough Trade in the UK and on Discogs.
