In the End is the eighth and final studio album by Irish alternative rock band The Cranberries, released on 26 April 2019 by BMG. It is the band’s first release since the death of singer Dolores O'Riordan, whose vocals are featured posthumously. The surviving instrumentalists pieced together her demos with in-studio recordings over the course of the subsequent year and worked with long-time producer Stephen Street to finalise the album. Critical reception has been positive.
Recording and release
Guitarist Noel Hogan and vocalist Dolores O'Riordan began composing songs for the album while on tour in May 2017; the first track that Hogan wrote was "A Place I Know" while touring in Poland. The band ended up canceling several North American tour dates when O'Riordan suffered a herniated disc. That June, Hogan spent time in France writing and sending his demos to O'Riordan in New York City to add lyrics. Together they wrote and demoed 11 songs that winter, with the final emails from O'Riordan arriving to Hogan hours before she died. The surviving bandmates set aside her vocals for several months following her death and after getting the full support from O'Riordan's family, they brought in Stephen Street—who produced several of their early albums—to complete the recording sessions in April and May. The voice of Dolores O'Riordan has not been retouched by the Auto-tune but required the addition of backing vocalist Johanna Cranitch to fill few holes in the demos. Cranitch had toured with the band from 2012 to 2017. By October 2018, the recordings were complete. A month earlier, Noel Hogan confirmed that the Cranberries moniker will be retired after the album's release. The album’s cover image was taken by the band’s original photographer Andy Earl and sleeve designer Cally Calloman. On the first anniversary of O'Riordan's death, "All Over Now" was released as a streaming advance single. The song debuted at 25 on the Adult Alternative Songs. On 1 March, they released "The Pressure" for digital streaming, followed by a music video for "All Over Now" on 7 March. "Wake Me When It's Over" debuted on 19 March. Lastly, the title track was made available on 16 April. For many of the tracks, the first time they were performed in studio was also the last: the surviving band members had no intentions on performing them live prior to the album's release.
Critical reception
's Jennie Orton gave the album a positive review calling it a fitting end to the band and writing that they, "ha done a stellar job of embracing the sadness of the material, as if to give themselves and the rest of us a place to put the grief about O’Riordan's pain and how it ultimately got the best of her". In The Irish Times, Eamon Sweeney gave the album four out of five stars, calling it "remarkably uplifting". Asya Draganova gave the recording three out of five stars, writing for The Arts Desk that it's, "a tribute to the friendship and the shared path of her fellow band members Noel Hogan, Mike Hogan, Fergal Lawler—illustrating well how the four had grown together with their audience over thirty or so years." Writing for NME, Mark Beaumont gave the album three out of five stars, specifically praising O'Riordan's vocals. Charis McGowan of Clash summed up his review, "An album pieced together by a band in mourning, with the sweet sadness of O'Riordan‘s voice layered over, makes it cruder, rawer yet ultimately more truthful and hard-hitting, evoking the charged vulnerability of their very first releases" and gave the release eight out of 10.
Sales chart performance
In the End placed sixth on the midweek UK Albums Chart, eventually placing at 10th on the full week chart.
Track listing
All lyrics written by Dolores O'Riordan; all music composed by O'Riordan and Noel Hogan, except where noted.
