As the second recording session for The Cranberries’s yet unnamed fifth album goes underway, Dolores recently gave some insight into the new recording to MTV Italy prior to the last leg of the 2000 Loud and Clear Tour.

Dolores, seated alongside drummer Fergal, sat comfortably in front of a quaint old-world style brick oven. Her hair, as random as the weather, was a natural dark brown, extending all the way to her shoulders while she fashioned rather depressive yet striking black eyeliner.

“We’ve got a few shows lined up for the summer [2000], but it’s kind of an exciting time because we’re starting to create the new album, the next album. So it’s a lovely time whereupon you don’t know what’s around the corner, you don’t know what kind of songs you’re gonna write. Like, we have a few, but it’s very exciting ‘cos it’s kind of like moving on and starting a whole you thing, you know? So it’s kind of like beginning again in a way.”

Fergal, chiming in beside her, noted that just like before, family is still priority. Half of the time with the band, half of the time at home.

Yet the phrase “moving on” holds promise to all those fans who were even slightly disappointed with “Bury the Hatchet”. But exactly what kind of sound can we expect? Last year’s audience-recorded sound clips were but a mere blurred snapshot of a big picture. However, the official page notes that “Pretty Eyes”, one of the few announced titles will be a slow ballad compared to other “fiestier” pieces on the recording. And lets not forget that the band promised a string quartet will be included, as was done on the band’s early works, which hints at an orchestral quality of sorts.

But to truly know, patient fans will have to wait a few months to find out.