Articles-The Malaysian Star

THE most obvious fact about the three sisters and one brother of the group The Corrs is that they are very pleasing to the eyes — attractively unchallenged. And those who can see past their beauty would also discover their music to be very pleasing to the ears — melodically soothing.

The Corr siblings — Jim, 33, Sharon, 27, Caroline, 24, and Andrea, 23 — hail from Dundalk, Ireland, where they are billed the Irish favourite sibling quartet. They have been heavily promoting their second album, Talk On Corners, performing in Britain, Europe and Australia.

In a recent telephone interview from Brisbane, Sharon reveals that the Corrs have just completed a concert in Melbourne and Perth the night before. For a relatively unknown group (in Malaysia, anyway), they have a massive following Down Under and in countries like Spain and Japan
Ireland's favourite sibling quartet
(from left), Caroline, Jim, Andrea and Sharon.

Sharon notes: "We are quite big here (Australia). We've already sold 600,000 copies of Talk On Corners and the first album (Forgiven, Not Forgotten) sold over 500,000.

Another indication of how huge The Corrs are: "Recently we received the Amigo Award against long-established artistes like Oasis and Radiohead. The win was unexpected as we've only got two albums out. But we feel great and rewarded as we've been working hard for such a long time."

Starting out in 1990, The Corrs have been working and are still working towards stardom.

"We've been travelling around the globe, for the last three years, non-stop. Our Talk On Corners tour will probably go on till the beginning of next year," says Sharon.

Jim and Sharon started off by playing in pubs back home in Dundalk while writing songs, to make some money and to clinch a record deal.

The Corrs' breakthrough came when they appeared in Alan Parker's movie The Commitments. From this project, The Corrs received enough financial returns to set up their own studios and start producing and writing their own music.

Recalls Sharon: "We were in New York on the invitation of a US ambassador to Ireland to perform in Boston, and we thought it a good opportunity to seek a record deal. So we visited all the record companies in New York and Los Angeles.

"On the second last day before we were due home, we went to Atlantic Records and the man there loved our music and wanted us to meet David Foster. But David was busy working with Michael Jackson on the HiStory album. We waited for David at the studio's lobby anyway and when he finally emerged, we asked if he would listen to our demo and he did. We also performed for him the acoustic version of Love To Love You.

"He was intrigued and the next day, we got a record deal!"

Their influence is not only confined to CDs, concerts, radio appearances and interviews, but they are also featured in a vast number of sites on the Internet. And through this infinite spectrum of information, it's revealed that they are nominated for two awards in the Irish Heineken Hot Press Awards which will be held next month. They are stacked against Boyzone in the Best Pop Act category while for Best Irish Band, they are nominated together with big names like U2 and Ash.

But Sharon is quick to admit that they have yet to capture the hearts of Americans.

"We are, however, not doing so well in the US, but in the UK, Talk On Corners made its debut at No.7 on the albums chart."

This may be about to change as the current hot favourite in the US albums chart is the soundtrack to Titanic which boasts a distinctly Irish sound, something The Corrs are at home with most.

Sharon's ability to play a blend of classical and traditional instruments adds to The Corrs' unique Irish sound. Caroline plays the drums and bodhran while the youngest Corr, Andrea, blows a tin whistle. The only Corr who plays modern instruments is Jim who handles the keyboards and guitars. The other instrument all of them play is the piano.

While Jim, Sharon and Caroline provide the backing vocals, Andrea assumes the lead.

Explains Sharon: "Our music can be defined as pop-rock mixed with traditional Irish music, but it's not so traditionally Irish that it's inaccessible.

"All of us write the music and we contribute the sound. Basically our ancestors' Irish music is deeply rooted in us — something with which we've been brought up. There's also folk music in Ireland. And we grew up listening to pop music too. So it's very natural for us to mix the three together."

Besides their fascinating sound and musical partnership, the four siblings get along marvellously, or so they say.

"We are like any family or group of people who spend 24 hours a day together," says Sharon, "we do have fights but generally, we get along quite well. And we find each other a source of support because we're on the road so much. So I think we're handling it all very well and are actually getting on better than we ever did."

This may be why Andrea is so comfortable making her mark in the movie world as a hobby. After her impressive debut in The Commitments, she was given the role of Peron's mistress in Madonna's Evita. And her most recent venture is to provide the singing voice for the role Kayley in the Warner Bros' full-length animated feature, Quest For Camelot.

The Corrs, Sharon says, is not something they planned when they were young but "we all love music and play instruments; it just made sense then that we should give it a go."

They don't only come up with all the melodies and lyrics (which are mostly done by Andrea) but Jim is also partly responsible for producing some tracks in both their albums.

In their debut, it was very much The Corrs and David Foster doing all the work while for the second album, they had help from Glen Ballard (who worked with Alanis Morissette), Oliver Lieber and even The Chieftains, who provided vocals on a Celtic version of Jimi Hendrix's Little Wing.

"Glen expressed interest in working with us on the first album, but the timing didn't work out. And we were sad because we'd always wanted to work with him. It was great when he agreed to work on our second album," reveals Sharon.

The recording of Talk On Corners, which was done in Los Angeles and Ireland, took only six months, but the process of writing the songs is interesting.

"Our writing style (is manifested) in many different ways — one of us can write a whole song then everyone adds a bit of his or her ideas to that tune. Or two of us can write a song, or (all) four of us, and we even write with other people. It really happens in an inspirational moment and since we're on the road so much, we draw our inspiration from each country we go to."

And whatever it is, don't make the mistake of comparing The Corrs to any other group out there. Some may dismiss The Corrs' songs like Runaway and the current radio favourite I Never Loved You Anyway as those of the now-defunct American trio, Wilson Phillips.

"The only similarities between us and Wilson Phillips are that there are two sisters in that band and also they do have rich vocals and use a lot of harmony. Otherwise, we're very different," maintains Sharon.

After their tour ends next year, Sharon foresees the Corrs will record another album.

So looks aside, these Irish gals and guy are certainly leaving a hot trail in the music arena. To set the record straight about The Corrs, Sharon has this to say: "The music is what we're all about but unfortunately, we live in a very visual world. But then again, if we couldn't play any instruments or couldn't write music nor sing, we would have never gotten a record deal. So I think our sound is the core of the Corrs ... the looks are just an extra that we have."

The band may drop by Malaysia (yet to be confirmed) on March 28 for short promotional appearances.