Corrs: ‘It’s like we were never away’

Family pop group The Corrs have announced a new album and tour after returning to the stage following a 10 year hiatus — but they say it feels like they have never been away.

Siblings Andrea, Sharon, Caroline and Jim played London’s Hyde Park on Sunday and have quickly followed it up with plans to play eight concerts across the UK and Ireland.

The quartet also announced the release of album White Light — their first major release since Borrowed Heaven in 2004.

Speaking after a short set in Ronnie Scott’s in London’s Soho at lunchtime yesterday, where they played a mix of old and new tracks, Sharon said: “We never sort of decided to stop or quit as a band. We’ve had eight children between us in the mean time so that kind of takes up 10 years so I think we were sort of entitled to it after sort of 15 years of being on the road.”

She added: “But music is part of the fabric of us. It is absolutely who we are. This is what we do, so it’s not really a revelation from that point of view if you know what I mean. This is what we do so we’re just doing it.”

Speaking about their Hyde Park appearance, Andrea said: “I was absolutely terrified for about two weeks before it. But then once we got on and did it, it felt like we’d never been away to be honest and we’d never had a bit of time free and definitely ignited our excitement about touring again and now we’re really excited about playing our new songs. So it kind of has kicked us off in a very good way.”

Sharon said one of the biggest inspirations for them at Hyde Park was that their children would see The Corrs perform “for the first time ever”.

“And I think for us if the children had never seen this, what a shame,” she said.

What a day yesterday 😄 THANK YOU EVERYONE for making our long awaited resumption so special ❤️ pic.twitter.com/aMZgWaSKr8

— Jim Corr (@Jimcorrsays) September 14, 2015

Asked about how special it will be to play to a home crowd in Ireland, Sharon said: “I remember we did Lansdowne Road which is now the Aviva Stadium and that was like this mega moment for us. It was so nerve-racking and then just so utterly beautiful. And mum and dad were there too which was really, really amazing.

“We’ll be looking forward to going back and playing Dublin and playing Belfast. It’s a very important part of what we do.”

The Corrs will play Dublin 3 Arena on Thursday, January 28, and the SSE Arena in Belfast on Friday, January 29.

Tickets for the Dublin and Belfast shows go on sale on Thursday, September 24. White Light is out on November 27.