OldieFreshGyal on the ZG Forums has found another one of Dolores O’Riordan’s new promo photos in generous size on the German MLK tour promotion site. Here it is:

Sabina has written in to say that Croatian rock station Radio101 has started playing more songs from Dolores O’Riordan’s forthcoming album Are You Listening? besides the first single “Ordinary Day.”

If someone can confirm this — including which songs titles are being played — use the links below to email us and let us know!

Dolores O’Riordan is “calling Croatia” in a big way this week, as her new single “Ordinary Day” has quickly jumped to #1 on Croatia’s biggest rock station, Otvoreni Radio.

Otvoreni Radio was also the first station in the world to play the single. Dolores has currently topped The Killers, Nelly Furtado, Kylie Minogue, and Timbaland.

Voting is open to everyone, and you can help keep Dolores in the #1 spot by voting here (click on her name). It’s only 1 click and very easy. You can also vote for Dolores on Radio 101 (click checkbox then “Glasaj”).

Thanks to DMode for the news.

Dolores O’Riordan has already recorded the music video for her debut single “Ordinary Day,” her MySpace reports.

The video was filmed in Prague by Caswell Coggins, who has also done videos for Keane and fellow Irishmen JJ72 — check out his videography here. (Speaking of videographies, visit Mattia’s excellent Cranberries Videography if you haven’t already.)

The MySpace admin writes, “Finishing touches are currently being put on it, and you can expect to see it sometime in mid-March!!”

Sanctuary has posted two of Dolores O’Riordan’s brand new promo photos for her upcoming album, both of which come from the same photo shoot as the album’s cover. These will be used in publicity for the album around the world, and we can expect to see more in the coming weeks:

Source: Dolores O’Riordan O cial Site, MySpace

Dolores O’Riordan’s O cial Website has launched at http://www.doloresoriordan.ie — currently the site contains an updated tour date list, a clip of “Ordinary Day,” and confirmed worldwide release dates for Are You Listening?

If you still have yet to hear Dolores O’Riordan’s debut solo single “Ordinary Day,” you can now listen to it in full on her MySpace profile.

The updated tour schedule is as follows:

29TH MAY – BARCELONA, SPAIN – RAZZMATAZZ
31ST MAY – MILAN, ITALY – ALCATRAZ
01ST JUNE – ZURICH, SWITZERLAND – KAUFLEUTEN
03RD JUNE – AMSTERDAM, HOLLAND – PARADISO
05TH JUNE – BRUSSELS, BELGIUM – ANCIENNE BELGIQUE
06TH JUNE – PARIS, FRANCE – BATACLAN
09TH JUNE – BERLIN, GERMANY – COLUMBIA CLUB
10TH JUNE – STOCKHOLM,SWEDEN – BERNS
11TH JUNE – COPENHAGEN, DENMARK – VEGA
13TH JUNE – COLOGNE, GERMANY – GLORIA
15TH JUNE – LONDON, U.K. – KOKO CLUB

Italian cartoonist theHand (alias Maurizio di Bona) told us in the ZG Forums that he “felt some scribble coming out” after gazing upon the cover of Dolores O’Riordan’s solo album.

theHand, you’ll recall, designed a line of official merchandise for The Cranberries’ last tour in 2003 and recently released a compilation book Scarabocchio Ergo Sum that includes those works.

Here’s what he came up with….

You can post feedback in the Forums!

Dolores O’Riordan’s o cial MySpace page has launched, complete with a full English biography and profile image. Needless to say, you can become a friend if you haven’t already!
The update reveals a number of tidbits about the album: First, Are You Listening? is due in Japan and Australia on May 21.
Second, Cranberries live guitarist Steve Demarchi’s brother Denny Demarchi has a number of contributions to the album, including: Keyboards, Guitars, Flute, Wind instruments, Backing vocals.
And finally, here is the brand new biography, complete with new quotes from Dolores:

Dolores O’Riordan – songstress, smoldering icon and critically acclaimed voice of The Cranberries – is back. Her first-ever solo LP Are You Listening? is released on Sanctuary Records, May 15th and features the stunning new single “Ordinary Day.” Co- produced by Youth, Dan Broadbeck and engineered by Rich Chycki, the eagerly anticipated album is a 12-track tour de force and marks her first release in four years.
Written and recorded between her homes in Canada and Dublin, the album is a striking return to form, punctuated with angular chords and that crystalline voice. Folk-tinged, electric and deftly powerful, it’s also a relentlessly melodic success. “My time after The Cranberries was a clean slate – no pressure and no contracts,” Dolores enthuses. “It was the first time in my life I was a free agent. I had no inhibitions, which is how I felt when I first started out. That’s all visible here.”
Two of the tracks – “Apple of My Eye” and the forthcoming single “Ordinary Day” – were produced by BRIT Award winner, Youth, whose previous credits include The Verve, Embrace, Primal Scream, U2 and Paul McCartney. “He certainly brought his own vision to the table and softened the tracks without a ecting their integrity or passion.”
Ultimately, the CD was a process inspired by personal experiences, both light and dark. “My mother-in-law died of cancer shortly after I left The Cranberries, which was devastating. It was like watching a beast attack from the inside out, so the song “Black Widow” is a metaphor inspired by that. At the other end of the spectrum ”Apple Of My Eye” was written about my husband and “Ordinary Day” reflects the birth of my third baby, Dakota.”
Other album highlights include the hypnotic “In the Garden,” with its shimmering guitar-rock crescendo, the delicateness of “Watch the Stars,” and “Loser,” which bristles with loops, layered vocals and an instant, razor-sharp hook. “It was a very organic, natural experience.” Dolores adds, “I play guitar and have four fantastic musicians…a great bass player, a stellar drummer and an immaculate guitarist. Once the first 7 songs were penned, we went into the studio and recorded them first. We didn’t rush it. In total, the writing and recording was a four-year period.”
“The album was an awakening for me in my life – a journey that I completed. It’s like I crossed a bridge, which is a great new plateau to be on. My life is so di erent to how it was 10 years ago and there’s a great sense of acceptance. It’s a very exciting time to be releasing music again too. Song-writing is truly coming back.”

Gaffa confirms that Dolores O’Riordan’s concert in Copenhagen will take place at the Vega on June 11th. Tickets will go on sale at 10:00 on February 26 from Billetlugen.dk. If you are skilled in the Danish tongue (Google Translate won’t help us), you can read more details over at Gaffa.

In an interview recorded during the soundcheck for December’s Monte Carlo Christmas Concert, Dolores O’Riordan told Italian website Music Box that having a new band to back her solo career is like having “a new boyfriend” (!)

Cranberries-fan has posted DivX videos of a very brief interview done for the Italian-based Music Box service. There are also clips of Dolores’s soundcheck of “Away in a Manger.”

Dolores, who sounds a bit under the weather in the video, said, “It’s really quite di erent [from The Cranberries]. It’s more experimental, I suppose. The whole idea was to do something di erent, try di erent things… so hopefully you’ll enjoy it.”

How does Dolores feel about being a solo artist? “It’s cool. It’s not that much di erent — you’ve still got a band playing. It’s exciting, it’s just a new experience. It’s like a new boyfriend or something.”

You can download DivX versions over at Cranberries-fan or watch YouTube versions below
[LINKS NO LONGER AVAILABLE]

Static Multimedia has posted what appears to be a Sanctuary-penned synopsis of Dolores O’Riordan’s forthcoming solo album Are You Listening?
The press release reveals that the singer has written over 30 songs over the past five years, only 12 of which appear on the forthcoming album. This extreme sort of “boiling down” of songs seems to fit in with the direction that O’Riordan was heading when she was starting to write The Cranberries’ ill-fated sixth album in 2002.
She told Italian TV network La7 in July 2003, “We’re concentrating on writing right now, taking our time to do a really beautiful album. Even if we write 4 songs, we’ll throw 3 of them away and we’ll choose 1 [to keep]. We’ve got to be very selective to be sure that the next album is really good, because it doesn’t make sense to make an album otherwise, so we prefer to take our time, to enjoy the period of writing, and time spent at home. Then we can go out with a really great disc and a good tour.”
Also, it should be pointed out that “Apple of My Eye” appears as “Apple” in this press release.

Dolores O’Riordan 1st Solo
Iconic – Ethereal – Exquisite
Three adjectives that can be used to describe both album and artist. Sanctuary Records is thrilled to release Dolores O’Riordan’s first solo e ort, ARE YOU LISTENING? on May 15, 2007.
Taking her time after the demise of The Cranberries (who sold 40 million records worldwide), Dolores O’Riordan retreated to real life with her husband. She had three children and wrote over 30 songs. She never rushed. And when she was ready, she whittled those 30 songs down to the terrific 12 tracks that make up ARE YOU LISTENING?
A logical successor to The Cranberries, but a knowingly more mature e ort, ARE YOU LISTENING? takes the listener on a journey of the heart. From the rage of “Black Widow,” to the sweet romance of “Apple” to the joy of first single “Ordinary Day,” O’Riordan always was – and remains – one of the few vocalists that can capture emotion in a song.
It comes down to the voice. THAT voice. You know just where you were the first time you heard “Linger” or “Dreams” or “Zombie.” That power remains intact when hearing ARE YOU LISTENING? Dolores O’Riordan is one of a handful of artists who can be identified from the second they sing their first note.
Co-produced by Youth, Dan Broadbeck and Rich Chycki, ARE YOU LISTENING? is a stunning debut from an artist who really has nothing to prove but everything to share.
DOLORES O’RIORDAN – ARE YOU LISTENING?
Track Listing:
1. Ordinary Day
2. When We Were Young
3. In the Garden
4. Human Spirit
5. Loser
6. Stay With Me
7. Apple
8. Black Widow
9. October
10. Accept Things
11. Angel Fire
12. Ecstasy

Thanks to celticyodels for finding it.

Source: Static Multimedia.

A few dates have been trickling in over the past few weeks, but we now have Dolores O’Riordan’s full European tour lineup:

**Tour schedule updated 02.23:**
29TH MAY – BARCELONA, SPAIN – RAZZMATAZZ
31ST MAY – MILAN, ITALY – ALCATRAZ
01ST JUNE – ZURICH, SWITZERLAND – KAUFLEUTEN 03RD JUNE – AMSTERDAM, HOLLAND – PARADISO 05TH JUNE – BRUSSELS, BELGIUM – ANCIENNE BELGIQUE 06TH JUNE – PARIS, FRANCE – BATACLAN
09TH JUNE – BERLIN, GERMANY – COLUMBIA CLUB 10TH JUNE – STOCKHOLM,SWEDEN – BERNS
11TH JUNE – COPENHAGEN, DENMARK – VEGA
13TH JUNE – COLOGNE, GERMANY – GLORIA
15TH JUNE – LONDON, U.K. – KOKO CLUB

It appears that some venues still have yet to be confirmed.

In other news, the following German release dates have been confirmed:
“Ordinary Day” single on May 4th, Are You Listening? album on May 11th.

Thanks to Stéphane for the news!

Confirmed: A PR representative for Sanctuary Records has confirmed to Zombieguide that Dolores O’Riordan’s Are You Listening? is now scheduled to come out on May 15th in the United States.

It seems that Are You Listening? might be delayed a week in the US. An article last week on LiveDaily listed a May 15th release date. (The album was previously scheduled for May 8th in the US.)

Now, the representative running Sanctuary’s MySpace wrote in regards to Dolores’s in-the-works MySpace profile: “It should be up and running shortly! Look out for her album May 15th. Thanks!”

Thanks to Meg for the news.

Amsterdam’s Paradiso is listing a Dolores O’Riordan concert scheduled there for June 3rd at 20:30 local time. Tickets will go on sale March 3rd.

This is earlier than the first-announced June 6th date in Paris, so perhaps more even earlier dates are soon to be announced.

Thanks to our tasty friend Taco for the tip.

UK ticket broker Ticketweb has posted a second tour date for Dolores O’Riordan’s summer tour: London at the Koko on June 15th at 7 PM. Tickets are not yet on sale, but will go on sale on Friday, February 23rd at 9 AM.

Thanks to Stéphane for the news!

Helter Ltd., Dolores O’Riordan’s self-owned management company, has just registered the domain http://www.doloresoriordan.ie, presumably for use in promoting her upcoming record. The domain record was most recently updated on February 15th. There is only a generic placeholder page there currently.

Thanks to Saeed for pointing it out.

Sanctuary Records has sent out a French press release, which includes the title of a song called “Watch the Stars,” which was not included in the recent full-album promos for Are You Listening? It could end up as a B-side — we’ll have to wait and see.

The press release also says that the 2 songs that UK-based Youth produced are “Apple of My Eye” and the first single “Ordinary Day.” Additionally, mixer Richard Chycki has updated his blog to report that he and Dolores co- produced the single. Chycki writes that Dan Brodbeck and Dolores O’Riordan co-produced most of the album.

Dolores O’Riordan
« Are You Listening? »
LE PREMIER ALBUM SOLO DE LA VOIX DES CRANBERRIES
Sortie le 7 mai 2007 sur Sequel Records / Sanctuary (distribution PIAS)
Conçu entre son Irlande natale et le Canada, sa terre d’adoption, « Are You Listening ? » marque le grand retour et les débuts solo de Dolores O’Riordan ! Enfin libérée de toutes obligations contractuelles et de ses inhibitions, après quatre ans de silence, celle que l’on a connue comme LA chanteuse du groupe irlandais The Cranberries, revient sur le devant de la scène, seule, plus envoûtante que jamais, avec un disque chargé d’émotions pures.
Très largement inspirées par les expériences personnelles de cette musicienne hors pair, les 12 chansons de ce disque traitent de sujets forts comme le cancer qui a emporté sa mère, tristement dépeint à travers la sombre métaphore de « Black Widow », ou plus heureux comme les rapports avec son mari canadien sur « Apple » ou de la naissance de Dakota, leur troisième enfant, avec « Ordinary Day ». A noter que deux de ces titres, « Apple » et « Ordinary Day », le premier single, sont produits par Youth, dont l’on a déjà pu apprécier le travail d’orfèvre avec The Verve, Embrace, Primal Scream, U2 ou Paul McCartney.
Il y a fort à parier que le scintillement crescendo des guitares rock de « In The Garden », les touches délicates et les refrains accrocheurs de « Watch The Stars » ou « Loser », ne vont pas manquer de séduire tous ceux qui ont un jour vibré pour les compositions et la voix cristalline de la chanteuse.
A noter que c’est le bassiste Marco Mendoza (Blue Murder, Thin Lizzy, Ted Nugent, Whitesnake, Soul Sirkus) qui accompagnent Dolores sur disque et sur scène !
Un concert unique est d’ores et déjà annoncé
le 6 juin à Paris, au Bataclan.

Source: Metal-live

Dan Brodbeck, who is producing and engineering Dolores O’Riordan’s forthcoming solo album, has posted
some photos of Dolores’s studio sessions on his personal site. [LINK NO LONGER AVAILABLE]

The photos were taken at Pulse Studios and Windmill Lane Studios (where The Cranberries recorded To the Faithful Departed and Wake Up and Smell the Coffee), both in Dublin. There are also photos of guitarist Steve Demarchi, bassist Marco Mendoza, and drummer Graham Hopkins, who are all contributing to the album.

A photo shows that for one take, the crew had to squeeze Graham Hopkins’s drum kit into a tiny voiceover booth at Windmill Lane Studios. Another photo shows Hopkins sitting at a mixing board listening to a recent take, while others are scenic pictures of Howth outside of Dublin, where Dolores now lives.

Source: Dan Brodbeck

A MySpace page has launched for Dolores O’Riordan’s solo album… but there really isn’t much there yet. There’s a rough biography about Dolores’s collaborations from 2003 to the present, which should be well-known to Zombieguide readers. Of course you can get in line for the friends list, although no one’s been approved yet.

Update: Although the profile is linked to Sanctuary Records, the page says it is a fanpage at this time.

Right alongside today’s unveiling of the cover of Dolores O’Riordan’s solo album is the announcement of the first concert, to be held June 6th at the Bataclan in Paris, France. Provided that no earlier concerts will be announced, this will be Dolores’s first full-length concert in nearly four years, her last being The Cranberries’ summer tour ender in Killarney, Ireland, on June 27, 2003.

More tour dates are sure to come soon, so we’ll have them up as soon as they’re announced.

Source: Zegut

Ladies and gentlemen, the cover:

Thanks to many for the tip.

Source: Zegut

Sequel has just sent out the first full-album promos for Dolores O’Riordan’s new album Are You Listening? The album has 12 tracks, which are…

1. Ordinary Days (4.04)
2. When We Were Young (3.23)
3. In the Garden (4.27)
4. Human Spirit (4.00)
5. Loser (2.56)
6. Stay with Me (4.01)
7. Apple of My Eye (4.42)
8. Black Widow (4.56)
9. October (4.38)
10. Accept Things (4.11)
11. Angel Fire (5.02)
12. Ectasy (5.13)

Notably absent are a number of song titles that Dolores has recorded over the past several years: “Letting Go,” “Without You,” “Forever,” “Playground,” and “Croatia.”

In related news, a full version of “Ordinary Day” has hit the internet. Maybe visiting the ZG Forums will help you find it.

Seems like tons of news is now breaking about Dolores’s album, so we’ll have the latest ASAP.

Source: Zegut

“Ordinary Day” will be the title of Dolores O’Riordan’s debut solo single from her upcoming album Are You Listening? Croatian radio station Otvoreni Radio played the song on air today, a full two months ahead of the scheduled April release date.

The title “Ordinary Day” popped up on iTunes tracking software Last.fm in December along with the titles “Loser” and “Human Spirit.” It’s possible that the latter two are B-sides for the single. (Update: “Loser” and “Human Spirit” are album tracks.)

Cranberries-fan.com has a first try at transcribing the lyrics. They also have a 30-second clip of the new song that you can download on that page!

Source: Cranberries-fan

Some more names have surfaced in connection with Dolores O’Riordan’s forthcoming debut solo LP, “Are You Listening?” The biggest new name is UK producer Youth, best known for producing The Verve’s seven-million- selling Urban Hymns, including the anthem “Bittersweet Symphony.” Youth also produced the Dido track “Don’t Think of Me.” The Big Life Producers website states that Youth has produced and mixed tracks for the album.

Partnering on engineering and mixing for the tracks with Youth is Clive Goddard, whose long list of credits include Madonna, Paul McCartney, Moby, Placebo, Damage, Sinead O’Connor, and INXS.

The site says Youth and Goddard spent the last months of 2006 working on the album.

Youth and Goddard join an already extensive list of producers/engineers/mixers who have been working on Dolores’s solo material, including Dan Brodbeck, Richard Chycki, Tim Palmer, and Matthew Vaughan, just to name a few.

Dolitsa writes on the Zombieguide Forums that a zip file has appeared on file-sharing program Emule today that purports to be a leaked copy of Dolores O’Riordan’s forthcoming debut solo album “Are You Listening?” The file is labeled as “Are You Listening – Dolores O’Riordan (DEC-2006).zip.” We can’t yet confirm whether the file is authentic or not, but if you have any success in downloading, please let us know in the forums!

The album on Sanctuary Records is due in stores on May 7 in the UK and May 8 in the US.

Update: Looks like the file was a fake. We’ll keep you posted any new developments.

Sanctuary Records has posted an o cial press release on Dolores’s signing to the label and her forthcoming solo album. (Note that the May 7 release date probably applies to Europe.)

Sanctuary signs Dolores O’Riordan for first solo outing
Sequel to release new album for former lead singer of The Cranberries
30 November 2006
Sanctuary Records, who recently reactivated and revitalised its contemporary label, Sequel, has signed the multi-talented Dolores O’Riordan for her first solo album, ‘Are You Listening?’, to Sequel.
Dolores, iconic former lead singer of The Cranberries, who sold in excess of 40 million albums worldwide with the band, will be releasing the lead single from her album in late April 2007 with the album itself slated for a 7th May 2007 release. Dolores will be embarking on a world tour in support of the new album from the Summer of 2007.
Sequel, recently reactivated by Sanctuary, is focused on providing a home to contemporary artists, particularly those with an established fan base and who are looking for an alternative to the major labels. The label has recently also signed The Cooper Temple Clause and Idlewild.
Malcolm Dunbar, Head of A&R, commented on the Dolores signing:
“I’m delighted Dolores has chosen to sign to the company. This album will further establish her reputation as an exceptional songwriter and singer.”
Adding to this, Joe Cokell, Sanctuary Records Worldwide CEO said:
“Dolores is a fabulous addition to our roster of newly signed artists. The record sounds absolutely brilliant & we are very excited about the release & are confident of having worldwide success during the course of next year.”

The domain Doloresoriordan.co.uk has been registed, presumably for use in promoting her forthcoming solo album

The domain was booked on September 28 by Antti Rantanen, who appears to be an employee of Sanctuary Records in the UK.

Currently there is nothing at the address except for a placeholder page.

Dolores O’Riordan’s long-awaited solo album finally has a title and concrete release date, Billboard reports this evening.

Dolores’s debut solo album will be called Are You Listening? and will release on May 8, 2007 in the United States on Sanctuary Records. In Europe, the album will release on Sanctuary’s newly restarted sub-label, Sequel.

A yet-to-be-announced single will release in late April.

Dolores will tour in support of her debut solo album in spring and summer
of next year.

Sanctuary’s CEO Joe Cokell said in a statement last week, “We also expect to announce another very significant addition to [Sequel]’s roster as early as next week, and we look forward to having major success with these albums through 2007.”

Dolores is only the third act signed to the relaunched Sequel label, after The Cooper Temple Clause & Idlewild. According to the same statement, the Sequel label specializes “as a home for contemporary artists, particularly those who have already established a fan base and who are looking for an alternative to the major labels.”

We will have more details as they break!

Dolores O’Riordan has finally found a label for her forthcoming debut solo release, the Ulster Herald reports today.

Sanctuary Records will release the new record which is due in early 2007. Sanctuary’s roster includes Morrissey (formerly of The Smiths), Iron Maiden, Tegan and Sara, and Crosby & Nash. The label specializes in artists who already have established careers and solid fanbases.

Sanctuary handled the release of The Cranberries’ Beneath the Skin Ver. 2 DVD in the United States.

A source close to Dolores told Zombieguide that the album is nearly finished and that the search for a record company was the main factor in its delay.

We’ll have more details as they become available!

(Oh, and happy Thanksgiving… and don’t forget the cranberries!)

Media reports out of Italy this morning confirm that Dolores O’Riordan will perform at the newly reorganized 2006 Concerto di Natale in Monaco, formerly called the Vatican Christmas Concert.

This year’s concert will take place on December 9, 2006, at 18:00 at the Grimaldi Forum, Monte Carlo, Monaco. Tickets range in price from €150 to €1000.

The Vatican Christmas Concert ran for 13 years at the Vatican before Pope Benedict XVI cancelled it earlier this year, stating that he didn’t like pop music. This year’s concert will be moving to Monte Carlo, Monaco under a new organizer.

The annual concert is broadcast nationally on TV in Italy, but this year’s concert will be shown by Raidue instead of Mediaset.

Confirmed so far to perform are:
Gipsy Kings
Ronan Keating (of Boyzone)
Skin (of Skunk Anansie)
Dolores O’Riordan (of The Cranberries)
Nicky Nicolai & Stefani Di Battista
Helena Hellwigg
Massimo Ranieri
Sergio Cammariere
Noa
Gigi D’Alessio
Andrea Mingardi
Sara6
Marco Masini / Umberto Tozzi
Appassionante
Benedict Gospel Choir
Summertime Gospel Choir
Les petits chanteurs de Monaco
Giancarlo Giannini

This will be Dolores’s fourth time performing at the concert — her past appearances were in 2001, 2002, and 2005.

You can read a press release over at Rockol and the o cial lineup here. We’ll have more news as it breaks. Thanks to Luca for the news!

Spanish singer and actor Miguel Bosé told Reforma newspaper yesterday that that he had plans to record a duet with Dolores O’Riordan for his new album, but scheduling problems squashed it (also: AP report).

Dolores was to duet with him on a song called “Partisano,” but the plans stalled due to scheduling conflicts. However, Bosé said he might still be able to record the duet at a later date.

“We talked a lot about it,” Bosé said. “I was doing to do ‘Partisano’ with her, but no, after all of that, we couldn’t do it. We’ll try again some other time.”

Miguel Bosé’s upcoming CD, due in February, will contain 30 duets including Ricky Martin, Shakira, Julieta Venegas, Juanes, REM vocalist Michael Stipe, and Alaska.

Thanks to Paolo for the tip!

A listing on the Internet Movie Database reveals that Dolores O’Riordan’s 1997 solo track “God Be With You” is being used in a new short film called 3:16. The 19-minute film is directed by Jason Durdon, and it picked up a “Best Actor” award at the Estes Park Film Festival last month.

Dolores originally wrote the song for the film The Devil’s Own. Although it is technically a solo track, The Cranberries included it as a B-side on the “Just My Imagination” single and the 2002 re-release of To the Faithful Departed: The Complete Sessions.

The first new Dolores O’Riordan song in nearly a year has surfaced on Angelo Badalamenti’s MySpace page.

The collaboration with Dolores and Angelo Badalamenti, who is best known for his soundtracks for David Lynch films “Mulholland Drive” and “Blue Velvet,” is called “The Butterfly.” You can get an MP3 of the song in the previous post on this page.

This is the first new Dolores O’Riordan solo material to surface since last year’s leak of the demos “In the Garden” and “Letting Go.”

Badalamenti first discussed the song in an unpublished outtake from a Mix magazine interview earlier this year. He said,

I just finished a new song with her called “The Butterfly,” which is wonderful, that I’d like to get into a film. I’ll start showing that to some directors now. She’s a terrific talent, and she keeps sending me lyrics. We’ve never met. I work on music and send it back to her, and then once I get her key on the phone – she’ll sing to me – then I’ll do a track her, send it to her and then she’ll do the vocal. Then she sends back to me, and I do the mix here, and that’s that. That’s how we work.

You’ll recall Dolores and Badalamenti last collaborated on the haunting theme song “Angels Go to Heaven” for David Grieco’s 2004 independent film Evilenko, which is now available in the US on DVD (Zombieguide review).

No word yet on exact plans for what “The Butterfly” will be used for. Dolores told Hot Press magazine last year that she and Badalamenti are collaborating on the music for David Grieco’s next film, Secrets of Love. Whether this song will be a part of that soundtrack is unknown.
According to Grieco, the film’s plot revolves around a singer who mysteriously disappears for years and is presumed dead. Badalamenti’s MySpace page gives no further details about the song.

Abandoned Pools, the alias of singer-songwriter Tommy Walter, writes on his MySpace that he has penned a song for Dolores O’Riordan called “Twilight.” He writes:

I wrote a song for Dolores O’Riordan (formerly of the Cranberries). We share a manager. I like it a lot and I think that if she doesn’t use it then I’ll release it as an AP song. It’s tentatively titled ‘Twilight’ and is in the same vein as ‘The Catalyst’.

You can listen to the song “The Catalyst” on Abandoned Pools’ MySpace.

Dolores O’Riordan has added plans to build a home recording studio to a list of amenities for a new home in Howth, Dublin.

In addition, she and her husband reached an amicable agreement with neighbors to go ahead with plans, according to the September 10th Irish edition of the Sunday Times.

Dolores’s original plans to build a new oceanfront home there met with privacy concerns from neighbors. Grocery chain owner Feargal Quinn in particular expressed concern that the views from the house’s third floor balcony would give a too-close-for-comfort view into his home.

O’Riordan’s architect met with Quinn to resolve this, and now Quinn fully supports the plans. In addition, Dolores plans to double the size of the house, and move it three meters north, towards nearby Ceanchor Road. Dolores now plans to add an extra 4,000 square feet to the existing 5,500- foot plans. The new features will include the home studio, guest rooms, swimming pool, gym, and sauna.

If there are any Irish visitors reading this who can get ahold of the Sept. 10th issue, it includes a picture of Dolores on the inside page of the Homes section, and we would love to have scans.

Dolores O’Riordan recently told a fan — while shopping for bras! — that her solo debut is now delayed until 2007.

A blogger named Beth at birdnameddinah spotted Dolores in a lingerie shop called La Senza in Dolores’s part-time home of Peterborough, Ontario, Canada. According to Beth, Dolores was “TOTALLY gracious and introduced me to her daughter.”

The blog writer also managed to get an autograph. You can read the account and see the autograph over at birdnameddinah [or click here]

Dolores O’Riordan and her husband Don Burton have won a lawsuit against a Limerick window company, the UK’s The Sun reports.

The Burtons hired Four Seasons Conservatories, a company run by brothers Brian and Anthony Fitzgerald to do work in the couple’s Killmallock home before it sold in 2004. However, the job was unsatisfactory and the Burtons ended up taking the matter to court.

Now the brothers must pay 46,582 Euro ($59,000 US) to the couple, which includes a hefty 35,155 Euro in legal fees.

Anthony Fitzgerald said, “We have gone through with appeals but that is too late now. This only started out as a small amount of money originally.”

Source: The Sun (UK)

Dolores O’Riordan celebrates her 35th birthday today. Happy birthday Dolores, and best wishes from all the fans here at Zombieguide.

Pope Benedict XVI has cancelled the Vatican Christmas Concert (”Concerto di Natale in Vaticano”), reportedly saying that he doesn’t like pop music, and prefers Bach and Mozart instead.

Dolores O’Riordan performed there three times in recent years, in 2001, 2002, and last year, 2005, her most recent public performance.

The change is little surprise, as some artists (including Dolores) were reportedly disappointed last year when Benedict didn’t bother to meet the artists.

When Hot Press asked Dolores about the new pope last year, she said, “John Paul used to work the crowd a bit whereas Bennys only new in the gig she says, laughing. He probably needs a few lessons and a pair of shades from Bono!

Not all is lost, though, as a di erent organization has agreed to start an alternate Christmas concert, and to move it to the city of Montecarlo.

Other prominent artists at past concerts included Andrea Bocelli, Tom Jones, Dionne Warwick, Josh Groban, Dee Dee Bridgewater, The Corrs, Lionel Richie, and (infamously) Lauryn Hill.

Thanks to Luca for the tip.

Source: La Stampa

The website for Toronto’s Metalworks Studios has posted the names of seven songs that Dolores O’Riordan recorded there, three of which are previously unknown:

• “Without You”
• “Playground”
• “Forever”
• “Apple of My Eye”
  
• “Letting Go”
  
• “In the Garden”
  
• “Vadim’s Theme”

Chris Crerar was the second engineer on all tracks.

Demos of “In the Garden” and “Letting Go” leaked on the Zombieguide Forums last October. It was previously revealed that “Apple of My Eye” was mixed by Tim Palmer. “Vadim’s Theme” appears to be an alternate title for “Angel’s Go to Heaven,” the theme song from the movie Evilenko. Vadim is the name of a main character in the movie.

It’s difficult to judge exactly when these songs were recorded. Given that “Angels Go to Heaven” seems to have been recorded in 2003, and that the title “Apple of My Eye” surfaced in early 2004, perhaps some of these songs are from that period.

More on Dolores O’Riordan’s solo material as we know it. Thanks to Paddy for the news.

Zombieguide reader Giovanni Denuzzo has sent in an audience-recorded video of Dolores O’Riordan’s “new” version of “Linger” and her “Adeste Fideles” duet with Gian Luca Terranova as performed tonight at the Vatican Christmas Concert.

Giovanni writes, “This is Adeste Fideles in which Dolores sings with the tenor. This song was very amazing. Linger has been performed in a slower way and the rythm was like swing… very sweet and particular. Dolores seemed to be in great shape and performed these two song almost at the end of the concert. She took part to the first song of the concert ‘White Christmas’ with the rest of the artists. When the concert ended I tried to catch her but it was impossible… I’ll try to find her today in the centre of Rome… probably she’ll do shopping.. Sorry for the poor quality, but I only had my phone.”

Excuse the poor quality, but it should give you an idea of what new version sounds like: a slightly slower tempo and some di erent melody arrangements, but still very much recognizable as the “Linger” we know and love. Don’t forget we’ll have professional-quality recordings when the concert broadcasts on Italian Canal 5 on Christmas Eve.

Click here to download the new version of “Linger” (3 mb, 3GP file format, play it with Quicktime) [LINK NO LONGER AVAILABLE]
Click here to download “Adeste Fideles” with Gian Luca Terranova (2 mb, 3GP file format) [LINK NO LONGER AVAILABLE]

Thanks to Giovanni for the videos. If anyone else has photos or news from the Vatican Christmas Concert, please send it in!

Source: Exclusive

CranberriesItalia has posted more photos of Dolores from yesterday’s press conference at the Vatican. Check them out below.

In the meantime, we will have first photos of tonight’s Vatican Christmas Concert up very soon.

The first professional photos from Dolores O’Riordan’s performance tonight at the Vatican Christmas Concert have begun coming in.

Below, you can see Dolores performing “Linger” alone in a tight black dress with transparent long sleeves, covered with a a shaggy black vest. Then, in her duet with Gian Luca Terranova, she performed without the vest.

If you’ve spotted more photos around the ‘net, please send them in.

CranberriesItalia has a first-hand report of today’s press conference for the Vatican Christmas Concert, where Dolores O’Riordan got to talk a little bit about tomorrow’s performance and also her forthcoming solo album.

Dolores confirmed that her debut solo CD will release in late spring, either May or June of 2006. She confirmed that The Cranberries are currently separated, but did not rule out a future reunion. She told the journalists present, “This is a moment where all of us really want to experience new ways of making music and new ways of expressing what we feel inside. I absolutely am not against playing
together with the band in the future, but right now we have no plans.”

Orchestra conductor Renato Serio introduced Dolores, saying that since this is her third time at the Vatican, she is considered “one of the family.”

CranberriesItalia got a chance to speak briefly with Gian Luca Terranova (pictured), who will duet tomorrow with Dolores on “Adeste Fideles.” Terranova admitted to “loving Dolores’s voice and her way of performing pieces in a unique and intimate way. [It’s] an attitude and a way of singing that many Italian singers have often tried to imitate.”

According to the program, Dolores will be singing “Linger” and “Adeste Fideles” as reported on Wednesday. CranberriesItalia writes that Dolores will sing “Linger” because “she wants to consider it an homage to all the fans of The Cranberries and also an auspicious song for the future.” Lastly, the program confirms that Dolores will take part in an ensemble performance of “White Christmas” with all artists present.

Zombieguide will have the lastest photos and media from the Vatican Christmas Concert over the next 24 hours. If you have a link or photos, send them in!

Source: CranberriesItalia

AGE News reports that Dolores O’Riordan will sing “Adeste Fideles” and “Linger” again this year for the Vatican Christmas Concert.

These are the same two songs that Dolores sang at her last performance at the Vatican in 2002. However, AGE reports that we can expect the new performance to be somewhat different.

For starters, “Adeste Fideles” will be a duet with Italian tenor Gian Luca Terranova. In addition to being a singer, Terranova is known in Italy as a songwriter and playwright. Terranova has written the lyrics to music in several Italian musicals.

More intriguing, perhaps, is that AGE reports that Dolores will deliver a stripped-down version of “Linger” with “new, particularly bare and essential vocals.” We’re not sure exactly what this means yet, but we only have to wait until the Vatican performance on Saturday to find out.

Italian TV channel Canal 5 and radio station RTL 102.5 will record the entire concert and broadcast it on Christmas Eve in Italy at 21:00.

We’ll have more news as it happens.

Source: AGE News

Former Therapy? member Graham Hopkins isn’t the only drummer contributing to Dolores O’Riordan’s solo album — in a new interview, former Triumph drummer Gil Moore says he has also recorded some new songs with Dolores.

The drummer told Greentoe.net, “I played a couple of tracks for Dolores O’Riordan on her new album. She is a great musician and a great friend.”

Moore owns Metalworks Studios outside of Toronto, where The Cranberries recorded much of Bury the Hatchet and where Dolores has recorded several tracks for her forthcoming solo album. He and Dolores have been friends for several years, as Moore’s wife gave birth just before Dolores gave birth to Taylor in 1997.

Source: Greentoe.net

Hot Press today posted the first bits of a new interview with Dolores O’Riordan, who reveals that she is finishing up her solo album, due in mid- 2006.

Dolores says her forthcoming solo album is the most “dark and personal” album that she’s ever written. She emphasizes that she could have only written this album alone, saying, “You might think, ‘Oh, that’s the same singer’, but otherwise it’s completely di erent to the Cranberries. Lyrically too, you wouldn’t have written something as dark and personal as that with the boys.”

Dolores expects the as-yet-untitled album to release in late spring/early summer 2006 and will be followed up by a world tour.

“I’ve just done a week’s worth of recording in Dublin’s Pulse Studios, which is the third or fourth session we’ve done,” she says. “Other bits of it were recorded in LA, and Metalworks in Toronto. I’d start the songs o at home on piano and then bring a programmer to the house to take care of the Pro- Tools side of things. Once I had three or four songs like that I’d go into a bigger studio with my musicians.”

Her musicians include Cranberries live backup guitarist Steve Demarchi, Graham Hopkins on drums, and bassist Marco Mendoza, whose resume includes Ozzy Osbourne, Whitesnake, and Ted Nugent.

“Graham I love for his energy and Marco, who’s been friends with my husband for 15 or 20 years, creates the most amazing things. He’s a Mexican dude, so he’s got that Latin rhythm thing going on as well as the rock. The main guitarist is Steve Demarchi, who used to do live session work with the Cranberries,” she adds.

Dolores confirms that “Black Widow,” a song that she originally recorded in 2003, will finally see release on the album: “There’s a very intricate and eerie song on it, ‘The Black Widow,’ which is about watching my husband’s mum die of cancer. There’s another one, ‘Letting Go,’ which leaked on to the internet and made me realise how out of control this piracy thing’s got.”

Hot Press also confirms that Dolores will be making her way to the Vatican on December 3, to perform for Pope Benedict XVI. “It’s my third concert and second Pope! There are about a thousand people on stage, including the Vatican Orchestra, so the vibe’s amazing,” she enthuses.

Is Benedict as rockin’ as John Paul? “John Paul used to work the crowd a bit whereas Benny’s only new in the gig,” she says, laughing. “He probably needs a few lessons and a pair of shades of Bono!”

Hot Press also teases that that they have details of her (new?) collaboration with Angelo Badalamenti, but for that, you’ll have to pick up the next print issue of Hot Press. Badalamenti said last year that he wanted to work with her to create “another kind of Dolores O’Riordan.” We’ll have the details on that as soon as we get it.

In the meantime, if somebody can send the full article from Hot Press’s site, please send it in!

Source: Hot Press

Newspapers in Italy are reporting today that Dolores O’Riordan will make her third appearance at the Vatican Christmas Concert this year.

Major Italian newspapers Il Giornale and La Repubblica report that Dolores will be alongside performers Riccardo Cocciante, Gigi D’Alessio, Claudio Baglioni, Dolcenera, Alex Britti, Black Eyes Peas, Negramaro, Mango, Nicky Nicolai and Stefano Di Battista Quartet this year. This year’s concert will take place on December 3, 2005 and will be broadcast on Italian TV network Canale 5 and on radio network RTL 102.5 at 9:00 PM on December 24.

Dolores last performed at the concerts for Pope John Paul II in 2001 and 2002 and was said to be one of his favorite singers. This will be Dolores’s first public performance in more than a year.

This year’s concert is dubbed”Concert for East Asian Missions,” as funds from the concert will be used to build churches and fund missionaries in East Asia.

More details as the concert date approaches! Thanks to rebel for the tip.

Source: Exclusive

Two of Dolores O’Riordan’s as-yet unreleased songs leaked to the Internet today, titled “Letting Go” and “In the Garden.”

The first, “Letting Go,” was posted anonymously to the Zombieguide Forumsthis morning, and the second, “In the Garden,” came this evening. The songs are labeled as demo versions and appear to come from a 5-track preview CD. “Letting Go” is the first track from that CD. “In the Garden” is the fifth track.

With the verse “She’ll be with your father / And they will be one / In heaven, in heaven,” the song “Letting Go” appears to inspired by the death of Dolores’s mother-in-law in 2004. Mrs. Burton’s illness was cited as one of the reasons for The Cranberries’ hiatus in September of 2003.

A contrast to that slow piano ballad, “In the Garden” is a yodel-infused piece with an upbeat electronic introduction that bursts in to full guitar mode for the chorus: “You can’t come here / you can cry / you can’t come here / you know why.”

Of course this means that 3 more tracks could potentially leak soon, and if they do, you can bet Zombieguide will have the latest.

Source: Exclusive