THE SCRIPT
Irish pop band The Script have a fanbase transcending all ages. Speaking to lead singer Daniel O’Donoghue, I ask him why he thinks that is. “I come from a really old school lyricist’s background: I worked under a guy called Billy Steinberg, where I studied songwriting for a long, long time before any of my music was ever presented to the public,” he says. “For me, the art of songwriting has been down to the fact that it’s all now muscle memory. There’s a way that a song should be written and there’s definitely something in songwriting that is handed down from generation to generation.”
The new album, Sunsets & Full Moons, is The Script getting back to their roots. It’s as if Danny and the rest of the band had realised this is what the fans wanted after the last album Freedom Child received mixed reviews – so, why the U-turn?
“We made a conscious effort, and it’s good that people are recognising that too, but we’ve always been those kind of melancholic ‘we might be down right now, but you know, we’re still looking up’ people.”
The last album did go down a fairly different path, compared to what loyal Script fans may have been used to – and this is something that Danny is very aware of. “With Freedom Child, we definitely pulled the elastic band a little further over to the left, and pissed off a lot of people. However, we gained a whole new audience by being experimental and changing the sound a little bit. Instead of looking back to the past, we are embracing who we are.”
What’s evident is that you can’t have any misconceptions about who the band are by this point. As Danny says, “After 12 years, the fucking ticket sales are flying! The place where I would have put my hat on as far as to what music is meant to be, and what it means to people, it’s really come true. We are just looking after the sound so that everything else will follow.” CARL MARSH
Motorpoint Arena Cardiff, Tue 10 Mar. Tickets: £27.50-£99. Info: 029 2022 4488 / www.motorpointarenacardiff.co.uk