‘I was self-critical of everything’ - The Coronas frontman Danny O'Reilly opens up about writing new album
The band are set to preform a mini-tour across Ireland upon the release
Ireland is set to be rocked by The Coronas as the Dublin-based indie-rock band are set to celebrate the release of their new album with a mini-tour.
Thoughts & Observations is the band's eighth studio album and is set to be released on Friday, September 27.
Reporter Rebecca Lenihan sat down with Danny O'Reilly, frontman of the band on the exciting new adventure that awaits with the new album tour.
“It is a little bit more mature and thoughtful. As we have gotten older we have evolved to be quietly optimistic and lyrically it has got a wide range of themes. It is an album that came together quickly I suppose. It was a really fun process and we were all pretty much on the same page from the start and we are really proud of it.
“I think we stopped trying to write hit singles as the industry has changed. It’s not that we ever really sat down to write hits but I think because we were such a radio band we really got our break from radio play and that was always in our minds when we were sitting down to write albums and with this one we didn’t.”
The album was produced by Grammy award-winning, long-time collaborator, George Murphy and Danny mentions working with him was “amazing.”
“George is amazing. He has worked with us for a few albums now and he knows where we are coming from and he gets what we are trying to do. He has worked with so many artists.
“Of course he was right and the magic came from that. It is good to have someone you trust. He always does it in a tasteful way which is true to the band's sound which is the most important thing I guess.”
Thoughts & Observations came about in a casual way for the band when figuring out a name for the album.
“We were trying to find a name for the album and we were going through lyrics and song titles and none of them felt right and then it was something I started to say recently. ‘Thoughts & Observations’.
“So say if you were on a night out and then you come home and you are having that debrief with your other half and you go ‘so any Thoughts & Observations on the night?’. Then it sort of suited it and straight away the lads were like ‘yeah that will do’ and it sounds like a cool album name.”
The album was written in Dingle and the tranquillity of Kerry brought Danny some inspiration.
“I love Dingle and we write down there all the time. Whenever I get a break I try to sneak down there. It is a place that is one of the main components of this album. It continues to be a place where I feel comfortable to go and write. It seems to be my safe space and it is not pressurised and I will sort of spend the day not writing and then eventually the studio will call to me.”
Like every album the band faced some challenges when writing.
“There are always challenges when writing an album. I am conscious of not writing the same things I have done before. I think for this album I felt a little bit less than in the past and I have gotten a bit self-assured.
“I think there was a time where I was very self-critical of everything that I was writing and I think that can prove a hindrance. One of the keys to being a writer is working through that crap and just get in that creative flow.”
Although the album had some challenges, there are many songs that are favourites of Danny’s.
“The last song on the album ‘Hearts For Eyes’ has a little place in my heart. It is very simple and it feels like a quiet love song, it is warm and towards the end we went for this big jazz orchestra vibe. It is something we tried out in the studio and we had no idea if it would work but it really came together. That was satisfying as we were trying something that was out of our comfort zone with that song.
There are collaborations on this album with Gabrielle Aplin and Jamie Duffy and Danny explained working with them was “really really amazing.”
“We knew with the song ‘Confirmation’ we wanted it to sound real for the piano piece. Coincidentally I had come across Jamie online and saw he did a piece with Kingfishr who are really good friends of mine. I was like this guy would be perfect to play that piece and he was delighted to be involved. He is such a sweetheart and a talented guy. He added some cool ambient tin whistle to it too and it was cool and really nice.
“Gabrielle is just on a different level, she is amazing. When I wrote ‘That’s Exactly What Love Is’, the demo initially I wrote a female part and I always had it in my head Gabrielle would be perfect for it. I said it to her at Electric Picnic two years ago at the side of the stage when Hudson Taylor were doing their last show and she was onboard straight away. I didn’t end up sending it to her for another year and she came down from Glastonbury and recorded it in three takes. She went into the vocal booth and blew us all away. She is so talented and her voice has so much depth and character. I had already done my vocal and I had to redo it as it didn’t stand up next to hers.”
One song stuck out to Rebecca while listening to this album was ‘Singing Just For You’ (On Occasion). Particularly the lyric: “If I could be remembered as yer man from that band that would give me such pleasure.”
This highlights the humbleness there seems to be with The Coronas despite their success.
“As we have gotten older I am just happy in my life and I am grateful for the level of success that we have. We are so lucky to have made a life out of this and that we can be creative and write our own songs and our own music.
"I still have my own personal space also and I am not walking down the street and everyone is stopping me. I don’t think I would like it if I didn’t have that. You can’t put your happiness on the success of the band. I would rather be remembered as yer man from The Coronas than Danny O'Reilly. That is what that lyric is referencing and I would rather just be singing for you and that you is personal but also for the fans. I would rather be a singer in the band.”
From the titles of the singles such as ‘Unbelievable Scenes’ and the lyrics on this album there is such Irishness to the music. It was always important to the band as their music changed to touch on their culture more.
“We have never really been described as an Irish sounding band, we were always more American sounding. I do think lyrically as I have gotten older I have tried to be honest and not try to overthink things or write big sweeping statements. I have found the lyrics I love are lines that stick out to me that I go ‘ah yeah that is something I say’ and ‘Unbelievable Scenes’ is something that we say. It is important to me as a writer to stand over the lyrics I write.”
The band is set to play live in Ireland, Australia and many more countries and while they are excited to play the new album for their fans, Danny mentioned “every tour feels as special as the first one.”
“I think the longer we do it the more we appreciate it. We love being on tour and playing new songs and the other thing about it is in different countries we play to different crowds so that is cool and it feels like we are a slightly different band then. We love that challenge of making different setlists and playing to different venues. We can’t wait to play the new songs for the tour and we have added them to the sets already.
“We are probably going to do five or six off the new album but it will be more intimate gigs. They are evening gigs and we will meet people and take a few selfies and then we will be back doing proper gigs and we will be back doing another album which I have already started writing so all is good and we are looking forward to it all the fun.”
Irish tour dates:
Friday, September 27 - Workman’s Club, Dublin.
Saturday, September 28 - Set Theatre, Kilkenny.
Monday, September 30 - Dolan’s, Limerick.
Tuesday, October 1 - Monroe’s, Galway.
Wednesday, October 2 – Cyprus Avenue, Cork.
Thursday, October 3 – Crown Live, Wexford.
Doors open at 6pm, show 7-8pm, album signing from 8:10pm.
Those under eighteen must be accompanied by an adult.
For more information on all of the worldwide and Irish shows, the album and where you can find tickets visit HERE.