The Cranberries are on the cover of yet another magazine, this time Italy’s “Super”
Thanks to Merry for the translation!
Check back here soon for exclusive scans from the article.
AN IRISH FAMILY
– Dolores O’Riordan speaks about her transformation –
Maternity sweetened the Limerick band’s front girl, who wrote an album with soft and positive songs which reflect the newly-found balance and the agreement with the group of friends.
For some hours, the elegant hotel’s bar turns itself into a pub. You can see them, Mike, Fergal, Dolores and his husband Don Burton. Their backs, close one to the other, Dolores’ very small one grazes Don’s firm one. The only person missing is Noel, Mike’s brother, who stayed in Ireland since his wife is ill. They laugh and smile at each other, chat and drink beer. They look like an Irish family on vacation, rather than one of the most famous rock bands in the world, the Cranberries. You can breathe an air of accomplice and steady friendship: Dolores O’Riordan, dark- haired again, with her shining eyes, sits in the center, protected and cuddled by her men. Slight, with a bright face and an energic behavior, the singer, voice and creative mind of the Cranberries, is living a golden moment. The birth of her second child, Molly, seven months ago, a new album, “Wake Up And Smell The Coffee”, coming out, and, over all, her newly-found happiness. “Making children is a very good remedy against the stress that success gives” she says. “And this album exactly reflects how I feel now. It’s like a big waking up to life. In the past I made many mistakes, I threw myself into work only, leaving too many things behind.. I almost destroyed my life. Until I took a break to dedicate myself to family again.”
Question: Each of your albums reflects you inner feelings: in “To The Faithful Departed” you were darker, in “Bury the Hatchet” there was more fun. What have you felt writing this record? Answer: Big positivity and excitement. The knowledge of having regained the spirit of our beginning, thank God. Then, there’s the fact that we don’t know what is waiting for us behind the corner, so, when you realize that you’re living a good moment, professionally and humanly, you feel like you’ve been blessed by God. Just like when you’re inside a tunnel: you see the lights shining at the end and when you finally come out, you’re illuminated.
Q: Talking about music, it looks like a softer album compared to the previous ones. Is this because your special mood, too?
A: There’s no doubt that my maternal condition took part in the process of sweetening these songs. Making another child regenerated me and made me discover again a natural tenderness which is too often suffocated. Living in a rock band for many years makes a girl tougher, and I must acknowledge that I began to go too far in this sense, losing a great part of my feminine side.
Q: Is there a common denominator in the album?
A: Every song has a positive message, or content. The only different track is “Time Is Ticking Out”, which is about the enviromental problem and about how much we hurt our planet.
Q: Where was “Wake Up And Smell The Coffee” born?
A: We recorded it at the Windmill Lane at Dublin and we mixed it at the Town House at London, but it’s been conceived, as all our albums have, at Killmallock, near my house, in the Irish country, at about twenty minutes from Limerick. A fascinating place, very inspirating. The Irish people, with their strong and romantic temper, unique in the world, originated from this countryside. We’re stubborn people, we always say what we think, but our heart is big as our sky.
Q: What does your house looks like?
A: It’s a 19th century country-house remodeled by some Canadian friends, in the middle of hectares of fields and hills. We’ve got many horses, a big black pig, hens, pheasants, a couple of peacocks, and a lot of dogs. It’s very important to me, because my father was a gardener, and I like taking my children to discover nature, making them see how things come out and grow from the earth.
Q: Does success take away balance?
A: Definitely yes, I’ve experienced that on myself. This is the reason why we stopped and we wanted an almost total control on all the things which concern our career.
Q: Seems like you’re very good friends…
A: It’s not only us, but also our families. Mike’s wife is about to have a child, and at my birthday party she played with my children just like she was their aunt. This is the spirit between us. We’re so united that we have decided to open a Japanese restaurant in Dublin. So, even if one day the Cranberries don’t exist any more, we’d still have something which unites us professionally.
