ARE YOU LISTENING? - DOLORES O’RIORDAN
Everyone else is doing it, so why can’t she? On the latest solo debut from a ’90s alt-rock singer, one-time Cranberry O’Riordan takes a pleasingly safe route, sticking to her playbook and ending up sounding, well, not much unlike she did with her old bunch. It’s hard to imagine anything else happening when you sound as singular as she does, though, and “Are You Listening?” rises and falls — about half of each — almost entirely on the lovely, lilting and occasionally sharp-toothed tones of O’Riordan’s voice. There are a few deviations: angry Dolores (”Loser,” where she tears into a pinhead ex) and nostalgically pensive Dolores (”When We Were Young”), all jousting with the aftermath of a breakup. Still, there are plenty of sweet moments, like “Apple of My Eye,” one of a number of cases in which more of the same is just fine.(Sanctuary Records) Billboard
