Les Corrs préparent un super truc !!!!!

Andrea Corr laments waning interest in LPs but gets her groove on to promote National Album Day

Laura Harding
Today at 03:30
Andrea Corr is a traditionalist. She likes records she can touch, with a crackle she can hear, lyrics she can read and photographs she can pore over. So much of the joy of the tactile nature of engaging with your favourite music has been lost in the era of streaming.
“Some young people don’t even know they’ve lost something,” she says.

It is nearly 30 years since Dundalk-born Corr (49), rocketed to fame as the lead singer of the folk rock and pop group The Corrs, with her three elder siblings Caroline, Sharon and Jim.

They were all in their early 20s when their 1995 debut album, Forgiven, Not Forgotten, went to No 2 in Ireland and the UK and No 1 in Australia. Their 1997 album Talk On Corners featured the hits So Young and What Can I Do, while In Blue (2000) featured crowd-pleasers Breathless and All the Love in the World.

But much has changed in the music industry since then.

“I thought it was a huge loss, to lose the album and for things to be just singles. When I loved a band, or an artist, I couldn’t wait for the record to be released – all of the artwork, to read all of the lyrics, the photos,” Corr says.

“It was Prince at the time and Depeche Mode. And it was something precious that you got, and it felt so valuable to me. I think with streaming and people buying just a song and not a record, and everything not being physical and vinyl, I don’t feel I cared as much about the music or the songs.

“The way I loved it, it was such an event. And vinyl on a record player has a particularly beautiful sound, that crackle on the record, it’s kind of an opening into a world where you go somewhere else.

“I find technology has been amazing for the world but we’ve lost a lot from it too. We’ve lost a lot of the mystery. I’m really, really happy with people’s renewed interest in vinyl.”

The Corrs are now ambassadors for Britain’s National Album Day, an initiative by the music industry to celebrate the art of the album, and Corr hopes it encourages more young people to explore a full piece of work, rather than just the clips they hear on TikTok.

“I think it’s a loss, people make a whole album, a song goes to the next song, there is a story to it. There’s a journey from the beginning of a record to the end of it. It’s like walking in during the middle of a play and you’ve missed a few scenes,” she says.

“But there are record stores opening up again. I went into a whole vinyl area the other day and it was just so gorgeous and nostalgic.”

The boom in streaming has not just led to the decrease in traditional album sales, it has also made it hard for most musicians to earn a decent living, she points out.

“It’s hard for every band these days, no matter where you’re from, because of streaming, because of artists not getting paid properly for what they do. So they have to get normal jobs, and they can’t do it so I think that’s more of the problem and that’s worldwide.

“What an artist earns for streaming is actually almost criminal to me. You know, a lot of other people make the money. If you’ve written it, you should be definitely getting the bulk of the pay. It’s just fairer maths, really”

Despite all the changes in the industry, Corr is happy that traditional live music is still thriving in Ireland.

“I think it’s just really in our blood, isn’t it? I think it would take centuries and centuries for that to go. Everybody loves getting together and if you’re with a group of friends there’s always a singsong at the end of the night. It’s part of the culture and part of having fun.”

That culture has certainly been instrumental to the success of The Corrs, who despite individual ventures along the way are still playing together.

“Music-wise we’re pretty alike in what we like and what we’re inspired by. We don’t do as much as we did over the years, but we worked so intensively together, it was definitely hard and I don’t think being in a family made it any easier. We do have something new coming, but I can’t tell you what. It’s not a full album or anything. At the moment we’re getting ready to go on tour so there’s no making a full album, but never say never.”

And while some bands head out on the road and leave fans disappointed when they trot out “new material”, as opposed to the beloved hits, Corr is adamant that will not be the case for their fans.

“I am one of those people that has gone to concerts and been really disappointed when I’ve not heard my favourite songs so I wouldn’t do that to anybody. It’s not right, people are coming to see you after all these years, and I think it would not be fair. Imagine going on and not playing Breathless or Runaway, that would just be cruel. ​

The Corrs are ambassadors for National Album Day, which takes place on October 14, with a theme of the 1990s. National Album Day is organised jointly by UK independent and major record labels association the BPI, and ERA, the digital entertainment and retail association, representing the nation’s music retailers and digital/streaming platforms.

Moi a écrit:Je ne sais pas si c'est parce que j'ai déjà bien entamé ma quarantaine, mais je reste fortement attaché aux formats physiques et je doit être l'un des derniers humaines à n'être inscrit sur aucune plateforme de streaming.

“I thought it was a huge loss, to lose the album and for things to be just singles. When I loved a band, or an artist, I couldn’t wait for the record to be released – all of the artwork, to read all of the lyrics, the photos,” Corr says.

Je suis 100% d'accord avec ça. Aussi con que ça puisse paraître, j'aime lire les crédits, profiter des artworks (surtout s'ils créent une atmosphère autour de l'album) et compagnie.

Et ce n'est pas seulement que le streaming et le dématérialisé rémunère mal les artistes (et encore plus, les nouveaux et jeunes artistes), c'est que je crois qu'en plus c'est démotivant. A chaque fois que j'écoute le Dark Side Of The Moon du Pink Floyd, je me dis que s'il avait été crée à l'heure actuel, il n'aurait jamais vu le jour : à quoi bon s'acharner à créer des liaisons entre chaque chanson pour renforcer le concept de l'album et créer une pochette emblématique pour que la majorité n'écoute que 3/4 chansons et ne profite de la pochette qu'en pixels 400 par 400 ?

Pour en revenir aux Corrs, belle reprise, mais j'voue que je m'attendais à une plus grosse annonce que ça. M'enfin, j'imagine que s'ils le voulaient, ils pourraient aisément vivre leur vie sans jamais revenir à la musique, alors je profite de ce qu'ils continuent de nous offrir mais si c'est (pour l'instant) trop peu,à mon goût.

Yrisea2 a écrit:Trop contente de te revoir Erine !!!!
Oui il y a des news et avec un peu de chance (et selon l'interview d'Andrea, très très probable) une tournée en 2024!