Jupiter Calling, by the Corrs

Although I have been a fan of the Corrs since their arrival in the mid-1990’s with an album powered by driving and powerful songs like “Forgiven, Not Forgotten,” “The Right Time,” and instrumentals like “The Minstrel Boy” and “Toss The Feathers” which would set a template for future releases, I must admit that it took me a long time to listen to their comeback album from 2016 in Jupiter Calling. The album was not popular, and did not receive a lot of attention, and as the band had gone on hiatus about a decade or so before the album was just not a priority of mine. That is a great shame, as listening to this album demonstrates as always the sensitivity the Corrs have shown to the times and the way their own lives and the situation of our world has had a strong impact on their music.

The album itself is thirteen songs, none of them an instrumental–although closing track “The Sun And The Moon” closes with a gorgeous instrumental coda that lasts for a few minutes that might count in a pinch if one is being fussy about it. This album begins with the moody “Son Of Solomon” and then makes its way through twelve other tracks that deal with life, love, biblical concerns (including “Road To Eden”), and a general tone that wavers between cautious optimism (“Butter Flutter”) and deep melancholy (“Dear Life,” “SOS”). The album has a sense of approaching darkness (“Chasing Shadows,” “Season Of Our Love), and a desire for lasting love despite the feeling of loss and sadness (“Bulletproof Love,” “A Love Divine,” “Hit My Ground Running”) as well as a desire to “Live Before I Die.” In its general tone, it reminds the listener a lot of some of the latter era Corrs albums like “Borrowed Heaven,” but the Corrs have always blended beautiful folk with singer-songwriter pop, and this album is no different in that mix, even if the album lacks an obvious single.

If you are a fan of the Corrs at this point, you have stuck with them through thick and thin and listened to their music for a long while even while the band as a whole was not putting out any new music. This album fits right along with the way that the Corrs have sounded and gives a melancholy and reflective picture of where the band has been at the last few years. If the album isn’t an obvious bestseller, it is a great album nonetheless and one whose melancholy and autumnal mood is something I can relate to a great deal. This is an album that certainly signals a maintenance of form for the Corrs and that their comeback can be as long as they want it to be. If they make any future albums, I will hopefully be a lot faster to listen to them than I was with this one.