Coronas still keep it fresh after almost two decades
Groove Tube with Cian O’Connell
The Coronas have been one of Ireland’s biggest bands for close to two decades. Since their earliest, schoolboy formation, the three-piece have penned a host of chart-topping records, headlined every major venue in the country and performed alongside the likes of Bruce Springsteen and Paul McCartney.
This week, the band’s eighth studio album arrives. Thoughts & Observations presents a series of snapshot of life, relationships and art. On Tuesday, as part of a run of album launch gigs, the Coronas will play an intimate, early evening gig at Monroe’s Tavern.
“The more we do it the more proud we are of our longevity,” says frontman Danny O’Reilly.
“In this day and age, it’s kind of rare that a band gets to eight albums in. And we haven’t killed each other yet. We’re still loving it, and we still feel like we have something to give and something to say.”
Most of the record was written in Dingle and recorded in London with long-time collaborator, Grammy-award winning producer George Murphy.
As is the case with contemporary release strategies, the album has been sat waiting to be released for several months.
“We finished the album in January and then there was obviously a few weeks of mixing and mastering back and forth,” says bass player Graham Knox.
“The last few weeks is the first time we’ve actually been talking about the songs. We hadn’t listened to them in months.”
“What I have learned is to start trying to write a bit for the next one,” O’Reilly adds.
“I used to wait until we were finished touring the album before I even thought about the next one. I’ve found the longer I leave it, the more it weighs on me and I get anxious about it that I haven’t written anything… In the last couple of albums, I’ve learned to try and get ahead of it. Once you get a couple of ideas that you like, you can start to see the next one come together.”
In some ways, O’Reilly suggests, the recording process gets a lot easier over time. Studios are familiar ground now for the group, and less pressure weighs on them to deliver. Songwriting, too, becomes a little more streamlined.
Pictured: The Coronas...new album and first gig at Monroe’s Live.