The Coronas and English singer-songwriter Gabrielle Aplin release the duet ‘Lost in The Thick of It’ on Friday May 15th. The song is the 4th single released from The Coronas’ new album ‘True Love Waits’ set for release on 31st July.
These days collaborations between artists can come about in many different ways but when discussing their new release ‘Lost in The Thick of It’, it seems The Coronas and Gabrielle Aplin teamed up quite organically. “Gabrielle and her partner, Alfie Hudson-Taylor, invited me to their home in Brighton last year for a weekend of hanging-out. We said we might try write a little but it was more like a mini holiday in my mind” states Coronas frontman Danny O’Reilly
Originally conceived with Gabrielle being the only vocalist, a second glance at the track prompted Danny to try and make this a duet, “I loved the demo so much I suggested adding my vocal in unison in a lower octave.” The final version was recorded in the historic Eastcote Studios, London a few months later and now prominently features on the upcoming Coronas album ‘True Love Waits’. Its delicate atmosphere and bouncy tempo swell from verse to chorus, and allow the reflective lyrics space to breath amidst the synth and acoustic driven instrumentals.
The Coronas’ thirteen-year journey has definitely been unique. With a handful of multi-platinum selling albums and a huge fanbase in their native Ireland, they were just about to embark on a 6-month world tour when a certain unfortunately named virus tried to spoil the party. Thankfully, the band are back with the new album, rescheduled dates and a point to prove.
“The first thing we did was tweet Corona the beer, asking them what their plan was.” states Danny O’Reilly. “When we chat to our mates in bands who have postponed gigs and tours I just remind them it could be worse, you could share a name with the virus!”
Unfortunate monikers aside, ‘True Love Waits’ – the follow-up to 2017’s No.1 album ‘Trust The Wire’ – marks the start of what is now more than a new chapter in the career of one of Ireland’s biggest, best-loved bands, it’s more like a whole new book. A quartet for 13 years, last summer The Coronas became a trio when guitarist Dave McPhillips unexpectedly left. Briefly they questioned whether to continue but, once the shock had subsided, something dawned on the Dubliners. If they weren’t the band they used to be, why make music as they always had?
“In retrospect, the shock of Dave leaving the band helped us get a clearer picture of what we wanted the album to be” says Danny O’Reilly, singer and lead songwriter. “When we accepted that we weren’t going to be the same band without him, it was easier to let the songs lead us in ways we wouldn’t have thought of before”
Lyrically, ‘True Love Waits’ addresses everything from a new love in Danny’s life to looking back at past achievements with pride to dealing with Dave’s departure. It’s a career spanning retrospective with an optimistic look to the future as Danny says, “We never thought we’d make six albums, or be as excited about music as we are now. It’s great that we’re not trying to compete with anyone else. We’d rather just outdo ourselves.”
UK 2020 Live dates
27th Oct The Deaf Institute, Manchester
30th Oct O2 Shepherds Bush Empire, London
1st Nov St Luke’s, Glasgow
Album release July 31st 2020
Pre-order / Pre-save HERE
So Far So Good Records
