What a very disappointing news for fans who had ordered D.A.R.K.’s “Science Agrees” Screen Print on Pledge Music almost 8 months ago now: the platform is about to refund fans as “unfortunately, not enough orders were placed to meet the requirements for a minimum run to be manufactured”

What’s all the more unsatisfying is that -once again- Pledge Music failed to inform fans about it (and to proceed to refunds). Cranberries World’s team got to learn about it today through a fan who emailed Pledge Music to complain as he had still not received the ordered items.
Quite unprofessional taking into account orders have been closed since September 9th… time to realize “not enough orders were placed” on November 30th !!!
They let the fan know they “will therefore be refunding [him] for this item” and “are extremely sorry for any inconvenience this may cause and will process [his] refund ASAP.”

Not to mention that this is another loss of money for foreign fans who bought this signed screen print in March when British pound was rather high, and who are going to be refunded now the pound has significantly decreased. Thank you Pledge, thank you Brexit!

Although we’re really excited about the signed vinyl -especially as Olé is treating fans with cool messages as you can see on the below pictures- we have to emphasize Pledge Music’s lame services: release date postponed three times, fans pre-ordered items damaged in the process of delivery, finally delivered almost three months after general sale…

This excellent album has been cursed, to say the least 🙁

Signed LP’s now on their way… and some of them have (already) arrived:

credit: marcantoinepanda Instagram

credit: cehooperradio Instagram

Here’s the Pledge Music message as received:

Hi,

Thank you for your patience waiting for your Signed Screen Print from D.A.R.K.

Unfortunately, not enough orders were placed to meet the requirements for a minimum run to be manufactured and we will therefore be refunding you for this item. We are extremely sorry for any inconvenience this may cause and will process your refund ASAP.

If you have any questions, please contact our Customer Service team via your order here – pledgemusic.com/pledges.

Kind regards,

PledgeMusic

There is renewed hope for fans who cannot wait to see Dolores O’Riordan new project with Ole Koretsky and Andy Rourke, D.A.R.K., live !

Indeed, no later than last night, the band posted the below video on their Instagram account asking fans “which songs would you like to see played live ?”

Une vidéo publiée par D.A.R.K. (@darktheband) le 11 Oct. 2016 à 11h33 PDT

Can we thus expect the band to go on tour late 2016 – which is unlikely if The Cranberries are touring South America – or in 2017 ?

From this small and very exciting preview of the rehearsals, there’s no doubt fans will be very disappointed if the tour is not taking place as Loosen The Noose sounds brilliant here.

Let’s thus cross fingers we’ll be lucky enough to see them live in the upcoming months/year, and that we’ll get to see more of this video filmed during the rehearsals too.

Let’s also note that the Cranberries World poll “What’s your favorite track on Science Agrees?” has now ended, interestingly showing that High Fashion clearly stands out as the ONE song most Cranberries fans consider as their favorite on the album with a high score of 35% !

The second song that received quite a lot of votes too is Gunfight (23%), which is not so surprising taking into account fans comments when the song was released. What a blast !

The two winners are closely followed by Loosen The Noose (20%) and Watch Out (16%).

You can see the poll results by clicking here, a good preview for the band to know which songs fans would like to hear live 😉

It’s been a week since the release of D.A.R.K.’s debut album Science Agrees, a perfect occasion to ask you guys what’s your favorite track after several listens.

Let’s note that we just learnt in a brand new interview of Andy Rourke given by website Cryptic Rock that the two release date postponements they had to went through (release was first supposed to take place in May, then August, then September) were due to “some problems with artwork”. Click here to read the whole interview.

So, because it might a little hard for you to pick only one song from the album, you’re allowed to pick your two “coups de coeur” in the poll below 😉

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You’ve got two weeks to vote, let’s see which one is the very favorite in the fan community!

Still keeping you updated on Science Agrees release as it seems some fans were lucky enough to get their hands on a hard copy of the album today!!!

You can check below a pic of the CD, case, booklet published by DORSpain.
(As usual click on the picture to see it larger)

We used this occasion to update Credits & Lyrics in our discography, have a look at them.

So… if you managed to get a physical copy of the album, please let us know where it is available to help the desperate fans who cannot find it!
What we know for sure is that no one has been able to buy it in any store in France at the moment.
Tell us more about the availability in your country.

UPDATE:
It seems the album is on sale in Spain (Fnac stores), and in the UK.
Impossible to find it in France / Germany / Netherlands.

Also, to celebrate this release, let’s note D.A.R.K. posted a very cool vid on their Facebook account which you can watch below.

Last, numerous articles are being published to cover this release. Let’s thus put forward this very cool interview of Andy Rourke given to Yahoo Music that should get Smiths fans into this side project 😉

Are you guys all ready to discover D.A.R.K.’s debut album Science Agrees tomorrow?
Much to our delight the band confirmed a moment ago on Facebook the release date for tomorrow, which is reassuring as after a few postponements we feared the album would never see the light of day.

However there are still doubts on the fact the album will be physically released tomorrow.
Indeed, some members of our crew called their local record stores today to ask if the album would be available tomorrow… weirdly enough they were told they would have none in stocks this week!

So, was Amazon.com right announcing a digital release on September 9th and physical release (both CD and Vinyl) on October 14th? Time will tell, but vinyls/CDs collectors, be prepared for a possible deception… (or call your own local stores NOW and give us hope!)

September 6, 2016: what a day!
After Dolores’ Birthday, the brand new audio interview featuring Dolores O’Riordan & Andy Rourke and the official world premiere of the track “High Fashion”, the website ConsequenceOfSound.net just officially shared “The Moon” – which, as we learnt earlier, is Dolores fav track of the album. The song is introduced as a gothic club track!

So if you didn’t get the album last August 19th when it was accidentally made available on streaming platforms and/or still haven’t heard “The Moon”, it is time.

Thanks to Cranberryesque for noticing.

Also to notice a great “The Moon” fanart by Cristy shared on her Twitter:

Is there reasons to believe that Science Agrees release date could be postponed once again, or that the album could never see the light of day? (or at least be released digitally only)

A question worth asking as a fan who lives in Canada caught our attention on an email she received from Amazon.ca to let her know that her Science Agrees vinyl preorder was cancelled because they “expected to be able to send this item to [her]” but they “since found out it’s not available from any of [their] sources at this time“.

Quite a worrying message, especially now the D.A.R.K. European tour has been cancelled (and not postponed) a couple of days ago.

Although PledgeMusic has FINALLY updated the release date to September 9th on their website, let’s recall that fans who preorder the album/vinyl on their platform are made aware that the items should be ready on “October 21st”. Also, Amazon.com states that the album (CD and Vinyl) will be released on October 14th.

Whatever is happening here, we feel sorry for the band as these numerous postponements and cancellations must be quite a disappointment for them.

Let’s note that, on the journalists side, it seems some more promo CDs have been sent recently to the media for them to review the album in their September issues.
Indeed, as shown by the below pictures of two CDs that were sold on eBay recently, Cooking Vinyl pressed a new version of the album.

1st promo CD released in April 2016 (COOKCD642W):

2nd promo CD released in August 2016 (COOKCD642P):

As a matter of fact, first reviews are being published these days, such as the tough one published on Slug Magazine or that of Pitchfork.

Special thanks to Andrea.

Some members of our team just noticed that tickets for the Parisian concert of D.A.R.K. on September 22nd are not available for sale anymore at the moment, which could be a very nice surprise if that meant the concert was now sold out.

However, let’s note that, when trying to buy tickets on GDP, buyers are not told that the concert is sold out but that “there was a problem with the reservation”.
Fnac, on its side, mention that “tickets are no longer available…”

What’s more intriguing is that the band was still pushing the date on social media two days ago with a new video promoting the performance at Divan du Monde, which usually tends to show that the venue is far from selling out.

Although all other dates are still on sale, it seems the same “problem” can be noted with the Italian date due to take place on September 23rd at Tunnel Club in Milano.
Indeed, if one tries to buy tickets on Live Nation, the following message appears:

TICKETS CANCELLED

Currently No Tickets Available
Check back again soon for exclusive access to tickets!

This is definitely not a good sign as none of these concerts seemed close to selling out lately.
Let’s remember Dolores recently had to cancel four dates with The Cranberries lately due to health problems.

We fear another postponement/cancellation would deal severe blow to the D.A.R.K. project 🙁

UPDATE 1PM (CET): TOUR IS OFFICIALLY CANCELLED – NOT POSTPONED

Thanks to Cordell who confirmed a moment ago he/she received a mail from Fnac to confirm that the Paris date would not take place.

We also just received an email from Cyprus Avenue, Cork, to let us know that tickets bought for the D.A.R.K. concert were refunded.

Here is the official statement:

DARK have unfortunately been forced to cancel their European tour including their Cork date scheduled for Sept 17th. Refunds available from point of purchase. Statement from the band: ‘We are really sorry that we have to cancel these shows. Unfortunately Dolores has suffered an acute back injury. An MRI scan confirmed she has a bulging disc which causes extreme pain which has meant that she has not been able to fulfil several engagements in the last couple of weeks. We had hoped that with treatment and rest she would be recovered for this tour. Sadly this is not the case and the doctors have now advised full rest for at least the next month to ensure that her condition does not become more serious. Apologies for the inconvenience that this causes, it’s simply impossible to go ahead with the tour.’

Same message for the show in London, Bush Hall.

UPDATE 1:35 PM (CET): Official statement for Milano:

Live Nation Italia è spiacente di comunicare che il concerto dei D.A.R.K. in programma il 23 settembre è annullato.

I biglietti già acquistati potranno essere rimborsati presso i punti vendita di acquisto entro il 30 ottobre 2016. Per i biglietti acquistati online TicketOne manderà una e-mail con tutti i dettagli a tutti gli acquirenti.

La band ha emesso un comunicato ufficiale: “Siamo davvero dispiaciuti di cancellare il tour. Purtroppo Dolores ha subito un infortunio alla schiena. La risonanza magnetica ha confermato la presenza di una ‘protrusione discale’, che provoca un fortissimo dolore. Motivo per il quale Dolores non è stata in grado di mantenere diversi impegni nelle ultime due settimane. Speravamo con tutto il cuore che con terapia e riposo si riprendesse in tempo per il tour, ma purtroppo non è successo, e i dottori le hanno consigliato riposo totale per almeno un altro mese, per far sì che le sue condizioni non diventino più serie. Ci scusiamo per il disagio causato, ma è davvero impossibile intraprendere un tour in questo momento”.

UPDATE 1:55 PM (CET):

Limerick show at Dolan’s Warehouse now officially cancelled, same statement as the others.

UPDATE 2:20 PM (CET):

The Whelan’s webiste just marked the Dublin show as cancelled and the Doctor Music’s website did the same for the show in Madrid at Caracol

FOR NOW ALL THE SHOWS BUT BERLIN, GERMANY ARE OFFICIALLY MARKED AS CANCELLED.

UPDATE 2:45 PM (CET):

Doctor Music‘s official statement for Madrid:

D.A.R.K. cancela su gira en España por problemas de salud
Jueves, 1 septiembre 2016
Compártelo:
El importe de las entradas se puede recuperar en los mismos puntos de venta donde fueron adquiridas
Doctor Music lamenta profundamente tener que informar de la cancelación del concierto de D.A.R.K previsto para el próximo 27 de septiembre en la sala Caracol de Madrid.

Como la propia banda ha comunicado: “Desafortunadamente, Dolores ha sufrido una lesión aguda en la espalda. Una resonancia magnética ha confirmado una importante protrusión discal, lo que le está causando un dolor extremo que le ha impedido cumplir con sus compromisos profesionales en estas últimas semanas. Teníamos la esperanza de que con un tratamiento adecuado y reposo pudiera reponerse y poder seguir adelante con este tour. Lamentablemente, esto no ha sido así y los doctores le han prescrito reposo absoluto durante al menos todo el mes para evitar que su situación empeore. Pedimos disculpas por las molestias causadas, pero es imposible seguir hacia delante con este gira.”

El importe de las entradas para el concierto de Madrid se puede recuperar en los mismos puntos de venta donde fueron adquiridas. Así mismo, las entradas de venta online se reembolsarán automáticamente.

UPDATE 5:58 PM (CET):

GPD, producer of the Paris show, just sent the following email both in French and English:

Bonjour,
Le concert de D.A.R.K. prévu le 22 Septembre 2016 prochain au Divan du Monde est malheureusement annulé.
Vous trouverez ci-dessous les modalités de remboursement:

• Billets à retirer au guichet: Merci de nous envoyer par e-mail votre n° de commande et votre adresse complète.

Le remboursement se fera par chèque sous 2 à 3 semaines.
Si vous souhaitez être remboursé plus rapidement, vous pouvez également nous joindre au 01.43.12.53.45, et nous communiquer les numéros et la date d’expiration de votre carte bancaire pour un remboursement immédiat.

• Billets reçus par courrier: Merci de nous renvoyer vos billets à l’adresse indiquée en signature du mail en nous précisant votre adresse complète.

Le remboursement se fera par chèque sous 2 à 3 semaines.
La date limite de remboursement est fixée au : jeudi 1^er décembre 2016
(Après cette date, il ne sera plus possible de demander le remboursement de vos billets)

Merci et bonne fin de journée,
Bien cordialement,

 

 

 

Dear Customer,
D.A.R.K.’s concert at the Divan du Monde in Paris on September 22th 2016 is unfortunately cancelled.
You will find the refund information below:

–          Will-call tickets: Please send us your order number by e-mail together with your credit card number and expiration date only (no security code needed for refunds). We will refund you within 2 to 3 business days.

• Tickets received by mail or DHL : please send us your tickets by mail at our address hereunder together with your bank account information. We will refund you by bank transfer within 2 to 3 weeks.

Please note the refunds will be closed after Thursday December 1^st 2016
(no refunds after this date)

Thank you very much, kind regards

UPDATE 6:45 PM (CET):

And last but not least, the band just published on their website and Facebook the following message:

*** D.A.R.K. EUROPEAN TOUR CANCELLATION ***
We are really sorry that we have to cancel these shows.
Unfortunately Dolores has suffered a acute back injury. An MRI scan confirmed she has a bulging disc which causes extreme pain which has meant that she has not been able to fulfil several engagements in the last couple of weeks. We had hoped that with treatment and rest she would be recovered for this tour. Sadly this is not the case and the doctors have now advised full rest for at least the next month to ensure that her condition does not become more serious.
Our sincere apologies for the inconvenience that this causes, it’s simply impossible to go ahead with the tour. Ticket refunds are available from point of purchase
Shows cancelled:
16.09.16 Dolan’s Warehouse, Limerick
17.09.16 Cypress Avenue, Cork
19.09.16 Whelan’s, Dublin
21.09.16 Bush Hall, London
22.09.16 Divan du Monde, Paris
23.09.16 Tunnel, Milan
25.09.16 Lido, Berlin
27.09.16 Caracol, Madrid
D.A.R.K.

Did digital platforms such as Apple Music, Spotify, Deezer & co get “Science Agrees” release date wrong?

It seems something tricky is happening as the album was just taken down from iTunes music a couple of hours ago, now followed by Apple Music!!!
Could it be that these platforms were not informed that the release date was pushed back? This is a possibility, we’ll see in the following hours if the album remains available on other streaming platforms (Deezer, Spotify…)

If you want to get your hands on it before September 9th, make it fast cause you might not be able to buy it in the upcoming hours/days!!!

Whatever is happening, there’s definitely a mess surrounding this release which was already postponed twice since May 27th…
As mentioned in our previous post, Pledge Music is now announcing that people who preordered the signed CD/LP on their website should expect it to be delivered on October 21st!!!
Last, Amazon.com now mentions a digital release on August 19th and a physical release on October 14th, see below screencap:

What the hell is happening?
Would the band fail to mention the digital album release today whereas they keep on promoting the upcoming Irish shows?

Thanks to Cranberryesque for drawing our attention on Amazon’s new release date

UPDATE AUGUST 20:
The album has now been removed from Spotify & Deezer too!

Surprising news but definitely real: “Science Agrees” is now available on digital platforms!

Indeed, fans first believed earlier today that the album had leaked, but it appears that it is actually available for digital download on iTunes Russia already, same goes for iTunes Australia as it’s already August 19th there!

As a reminder, the release date was first set to May 27th, postponed to August 19th and then postponed again to September 9th. It seems September 9th will thus be the date of the physical release.

The Cranberries World team has already started working on the lyrics, feel free to help us correcting/completing them in our discography 🙂  (if you have any suggestions => “Leave a Reply” below)

As you might know, a demo version of the album had leaked on April 26th in a very private sphere. Some members of our team who are in possession of this version will compare as soon as possible both albums to see if there are major differences such as that we spotted on Gunfight. We will keep you updated on that but can definitely note for the moment that the tracklist is unchanged!

BUY IT AND ENJOY IT AS MUCH AS WE DO!

PS: Thanks to our friends at Cranberries Mexico who were the first to notice the “leak” in the afternoon

UPDATE AUGUST 19:
Although we mentioned last night that September 9th would probably be the date of release of the physical version of the album, it seems we were wrong as Pledge Music updated their website this morning stating that the CD and LP are now available but when clicking on their button it still says pre-order (weird!)
What’s even weirder is that the “expected fulfillment date” mentioned for those who pre-ordered signed album & LP is now set to October 21st!!! How disappointing when you’re among the first ones to preorder the album…