With a brilliant musical career behind them, The Cranberries have established themselves as one of the most acclaimed bands on the international scene of recent decades. Many of us dreamed of their return, which is now a reality: Their eighth studio album will see the light in May 2017. Guitarist Noel Hogan and drummer Fergal Lawler talked about their future projects in the interview they gave to Publimetro in Peru.

They already told us in their official website: 2017 would be a great year for The Cranberries in terms of recording and touring. They are about to finish an acoustic album with the Irish Chamber Orchestra, in which their greatest hits will undergo new sounds. If the simple fact of imagining the acoustic version of songs like “Zombie”, “Linger”, “Animal Instinct” or “Can’t Be With You” with a string arrangement may produce massive goose bumps, the three new songs that will be included in this album leave no margin for doubts: we are talking about one of the great musical promises of next year. The album will hopefully be published in May 2017. This release will be followed by a new promotional tour. In addition, there will be a ninth album, with completely new tracks, that will come out afterwards.

Walking down Memory Lane, little could those Limerick kids imagine, with their heads full of dreams and illusions, that one day their music would reach the top of the charts, that they would get an international audience combining several generations who would sing their songs in unison. That is the essence of The Cranberries, which allows them to interact with their fans: People enjoy their songs because they are able to transmit feelings and allow people to give them their own interpretation. Because it is easy to empathize with The Cranberries when they talk about their concerns and illusions; but also when they express rage and disappointment; when they speak about rebirth after loss, or about the acceptance and wisdom of maturity. This is how they connect with their audience: When they do not speak the language of the audience for which they are performing, they let their songs speak for them. When they are asked, Noel and Fergal cannot decide on just one song to represent The Cranberries’ whole career. It is not surprising; that would be possible for any one-hit-wonder band, but that is not the case of The Cranberries. Each song represents an era, a moment in their lives, a part of themselves, of their being. This is why, for The Cranberries, the most important thing when composing is the sound, “the sound of Cranberries”, providing each element in the composition with its own space, in a perfect harmony.

Noel and Fergal comment on the advantages of playing in a festival, including the possibility of seeing other bands, and they are very grateful and excited to be reunited with their fans during the concert. Because The Cranberries are one of the essential rock bands of the latest decades, but they are still those Limerick kids with the head full of dreams and illusions.