Page 17 - Irish Examiner USA

artsexaminer 17

The Coronas Map Irish-American Thriller IRISH

Provides Exciting
Out Plans For 2019 Summer Reading EXAMINER

And Beyond Experience |

or The Coronas, May
arguably Ireland’s 22nd,
Fhardest working
band, the road has been 2019
home since they first
arrived on the music
scene more than 10 years
ago. During the last two
years, they've toured
North America three
times and visited the UK,
Australia and Europe in
addition to playing all
over their homeland in
support of their most
recent album Trust the
Wire and last summer’s
EP release, Reprise.
Bringing their music to With summer just around the corner, the new interna-
new audiences in far-off tional thriller Screamer: Never, Ever Steal from a Banshee
places now serves as inspi- written by Frank J. Vizard draws upon the dark side of Irish
ration for the development of what will ultimately become the band's sixth album, and American folklore in a fast-paced adventure that swerves
planned for an early 2020 release. between Ireland and United States.
To begin the recording process, The Coronas came to Los Angeles to work with producer “Screamer is the perfect summer reading choice,” said
Rob Kirwan, who is riding the crest of the worldwide success of his most recent producing proj- author Frank Vizard. “The novel is a story of hot pursuit but
ect, Hozier’s Wasteland Baby! The Coronas and Kirwan recorded four of the new songs, and when the banshee appears, she delivers a shiver. I can’t think
the first one, “Find the Water,” will be released on Friday, May 24. The single will be available of anything cooler for a hot summer’s day!”
via digital outlets worldwide through the band’s SoFarSoGood Records imprint distributed by When New York film festival director Ryan Connor dis-
Blix Street Records. covers a muddy relic on the shores of a disappearing lake in
“Seeing our following grow outside of Ireland has definitely left us with a new-found enthu- a remote part of Ireland, little does he know that a lethal ban-
siasm for what we can achieve in this band,” explains Coronas frontman Danny O’Reilly, “I shee, the Irish messenger of death, will pursue him across the
think we all felt that when we sat down to write the new material. Personally, I’ve never been Atlantic to retrieve it. The banshee, however, soon finds
as excited about our new music as am about the batch of songs we already have for the next herself in an abusive relationship with a newly-resurrected
album. Of the four songs we recorded with Rob in LA, ‘Find the Water’ felt like the right jump- Dutch demon that last terrorized New York during the
ing off point for what the album is going to be. American Revolution and is currently engaged in a murder-
“Musically, it’s unlike anything we’ve done before – melodically, the vocal delivery. Even the ous kidnapping spree of young women.
arrangement is unusual for us, yet it was one of those songs where we were all on the same page Connor finds an ally in a beautiful redhead with a myste-
right from the start, and it came together very quickly, which is always a good sign.” rious, otherworldly agenda until she is kidnapped as well.
The theme of “Find the Water” is self-improvement, and for O’Reilly that covers both per- The race to save her soon involves a giant hunter who hears
sonal and on the band's journey. “It’s a kind of reminder to myself,” he says, “to appreciate what voices in his head and a federal ICE agent faced with an
I’ve got and to convince myself that I can write a decent song or be a good friend or be a better immigration problem beyond his wildest dreams. A science
person or whatever it may be.” journalist handy with pistols, bloodthirsty dwarves with a
In between the recording of the album, the road will continue to beckon as The Coronas taste for mobsters, and a heavily-armed band of Iroquois
already have a slate of summer shows on their schedule. While the last two summers have seen warriors with a grudge add to the action. Connor realizes he
them play two of their biggest shows ever in Dublin—last July at the 3Arena and the previous has every reason to surrender the relic he found – until he
year at the Kilmainham Gaol—as well as other high profile Irish festivals, this year they will be begins to understand its true power.
bringing their own Long Way Home Festival, to some six different cities in Ireland. The concept “While Screamer is a thrilling adventure, readers should
is to bring with them a lineup of their favorite established and up and coming Irish acts in addi- note that the novel is painstakingly researched,” said Vizard.
tion to performing their own set. Shows at the Docklands in Limerick on June 2 and the Big Top “I visited all the locations mentioned in the book – including
in Galway on July 28 have already been announced with the others to be added shortly. the disappearing lake in Ireland – so the accounts are based
Additionally, The Coronas are set for summer festivals in Europe and Ireland. After making on first-hand experiences. The banshee is based on a 14th
their debut appearance at the eclectic Lollapalooza Festival in Chicago’s Grant Park last sum- Century text called the Triumps of Turlough written by an
mer, the band will this year play Lollapalooza in Berlin on September 8. Irish historian. Likewise, the ancient Dutch demon called the
The Coronas—Danny O’Reilly (vocals, guitar), Graham Knox (bass), Conor Egan (drums) Heer of Dunderberg is based on old legends of New York’s
and Dave McPhillips (guitar)—have five critically-acclaimed albums to their credit—four of Hudson River Valley. The connections between Ireland and
them double platinum in Ireland and one on its way there—have spent a decade touring all over the USA are astounding. For example, the Headless
the world. The “Trust The Wire” album debuted at #1 on the Irish music chart in its first week Horseman of Sleepy Hollow fame is an echo of the ancient
of release in 2017, becoming the band’s first album to reach the top spot. In addition to “Trust Irish Dullahan, who also carries his head in his hands, and is
The Wire”, The Coronas previously released four studio albums: “Heroes or Ghosts” (2007), a figure resurrected in Screamer. Poets like Ireland’s leg-
“Tony Was An Ex-Con” (2009), “Closer to You” (2011) and “The Long Way” (2014), the first endary W.B. Yeats - an obsession of Connor’s - often write
three via the independent Irish label 3ú Records and the fourth one on Island Records. Returning about the thin veil between worlds. Similarly, my goal in
to the independent route, they released “Trust The Wire” on their own label imprint. They plan Screamer is to make the line between the real and the unre-
to roll out more singles in the coming months leading up to the release of the new album. C al as thin as possible and at times, entirely erased.” C