The recent days have marked a before and an after in the “baking” process of “In The End”, The Cranberries’ final album, and the fears and overwhelming emotion that it brings.

On February 28th, the band unveiled “The Pressure”, a new song that will not be the second single, as Noel himself stated on his instagram account, but that they wanted to share with us: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7SBcEEUbBjc

At first listening, “The Pressure” may remind us of “So Good” or “Angel Fire”; a song full of poetry and sensitivity where every word is significant, contributing to a whole that evokes positive vibes and light in the darkness. It is always possible to see the bright side of life; even when we are at our worst, all the pressure disappears if we have the love of our beloved ones. A message very much needed for the broken hearted fans of Dolores O’Riordan, still struggling to come to terms with an unbearably painful reality.

This is very much the message The Cranberries wanted to portray in the video for their first single, “All Over Now”, premiered a week later, on March 6th: a young woman escaping from a turmoil situation is scared to see how her life becomes ruins and breaks down at her feet. She runs scared amidst darkness, but finds a light that guides her to what will never fade away: the love of family and comfort at home. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h1lMxX8doSU&feature=youtu.be&fbclid=IwAR06V_RTe-ZdQX2LGp4teYH3Vbs7mc1ipRvF6SAkDTyr0du0CHJWTUGYn6

It’s the work of animator and director Daniel Britt. The band chose animation over having actors in their video, something they had never done before but that everybody has received with gratitude and illusion.

Noel Hogan has also said that there will be a video for the next single, “Wake Me When It’s Over”, and that the record company has proposed a mix of old footage, an idea they don’t find very convincing at the moment. 

As for the band’s future plans: They are certain that they are not going to find another singer or form another band together without Dolores. There will be a 25th anniversary edition of No Need To Argue that might see the light in autumn 2019.

However, they might retake a project they had started with Dolores and that had to be put on hold when they started their last tour: a band documentary. “There’d never been one made about the band, so we started one and did individual interviews, but then we went on tour and forgot about it,” Noel said for Billboard “ Now that the band is actually finished it will have a conclusion.” However, as Noel himself explained, it is not something planned for the near future but in some two years time.