Fed-up Andrea goes hard Corr

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If it's Thursday Andrea Corr must be in Sydney. She's sitting in a production office at the city's Entertainment Centre, just about to go on stage, and soon she'll pack her bags. She can't wait because Andrea, sisters Caroline and Sharon and brother Jim are winding up a tour of the Far East. To paraphrase a recurring gag in the film Airplane: it looks like they picked the wrong time to play Jakarta.

'It feels like we're the last band out on the road. We flew out after the WTC disaster so there was hardly the usual jovial atmosphere when we departed. We were very tentative. But so few people come out to Indonesia, the Philippines and Malaysia we didn't want to let them down. This is a big market for us but we were in Jakarta watching the news and obviously surrounded by women in Muslim dress. The worries are all in your mind although we're lucky we left there when we did because now it's gone horrible. We just scraped it. Our return flight plan takes us close to Afghanistan, which isn't so thrilling.'

Homesickness has taken on a different meaning for Andrea - who hit 27 this year, acquired a mews house in Dublin and a proper boyfriend called Giles Baxendale. 'When I'm on my rejuvenation days I have to chill out,' she says. 'I'm addicted to Harry Potter at the moment so I'm living in Hogwarts. I'm not on tour at all. Harry is helping me to unwind. Yesterday I had a facial and a massage, ordered room service and watched Shrek. God, I'm really into kids stuff. I don't want to deal with any sad stuff.'

The famous family band from Dundalk, Co. Louth, know all about the perils of watching too much CNN, yet they've also stuck their heads out to play a benefit for the victims of the Omagh bombing. Their manager John Hughes recalls nights in Irish clubs when his charges left skidmarks on the floor in their hurry to get out. 'We're very sensitive to all that. I've been in America and seen footage of "war-torn Ireland" and said, "That doesn't describe my hometown at all." But we did ask, how safe is this? We do a lot of monitoring.'

Eleven years ago The Corrs were a bedroom synth group who belatedly discovered their Celtic roots. They got a break securing small roles in Alan Parker's The Commitments, became regulars on Gay Byrne's TV show and appeared in Boston before a 1994 World Cup match (Andrea was so green it's said she asked how much her airline meal cost).

The more worldly Hughes took a flier when he marched his charges into the Hit Factory, NYC, where producer David Foster was working with Michael Jackson. Foster, who only deals in platinum pop, had to be scraped off the floor. They signed an American deal while British companies were dismissing their bodhrans-and-fiddles music as far too folksy.

Now, 22 million albums later, The Corrs have played for Pepsi and the Pope, their worldwide fame is iconic. At last count there were over 700 websites dedicated to them and their forthcoming Best Of... album, which is sure to reach number one and will sit alongside a Live In London DVD on the shelves next month.

These packages close a period for the Corrs 'but they're not meant to be profound statements' according to Andrea. 'If you don't like all our stuff maybe you'll find a few things here, plus two new songs, the single "Would You Be Happier" and "Make You Mine", and some live material. It doesn't mean we're splitting up or going solo. You see lead singers who think, good, I'll go my own way - I won't have to consult anyone. I'm under no illusions that I'd be better off alone.'

Whereas The Corrs' Dublin mates and mentors, U2, started out as a band who became a family, they've done it in reverse. 'I agree that it's a bit unnatural and weird,' says Andrea. 'We had to erase some of the family dynamic. With me it was always, oh, you did this when you were six, you always lose things, you always forget, you couldn't possibly be right. If all that persisted it would break us down. We got so tired of being shoved on a sofa where you're that close your body hairs are touching. I wanted to walk round with my elbows out going - get off!'

The Corrs are fully aware of their wholesome image. They don't mind being sent up by Ali G or Ant and Dec. 'That's a battle long won. Initially people didn't take us seriously because we all looked so sweet and cute. Now I thank those people because they pushed us harder. Our album sales are about music, not photographs. Critics? That's their job. Go for it. They can flex their flowery language skills and feel pretty good when they close the computer at night. It doesn't matter to me.' Touch?.

Anyhow, Ms Corr - the most beautiful woman in the world, and that's official - doesn't want to be overt. Courtney Love? 'No thanks. That isn't me and it would turn my stomach, God forgive me. It isn't nice to me. I don't feel like coming out and shrieking, "Wooh, girls, I've got a mad new look." But we're also bored with the clich? of our own sleek videos. We look pretty! Oh good. The hair's blowing in the wind! Fantastic. Nice outfit! Smouldering! If we're bored with that, Jesus, people must be asleep.'

The video for 'Would You Be Happier' shifts the Gaelic goalposts. A pastiche on MTV's diet of mindless tripe, it starts out like a shampoo ad before Andy, Jim, Caroline and Sharon climb into the dressing-up box as Spinal Tap metal monsters, R&B pimps and hos - 'We're like Destiny's Child but we can't quite dance' - and punks who trash their instruments.

We'll have none of that nonsense when The Corrs play for Prince Charles and his Trust next week. Nor are we likely to see Andrea in a movie soon. Her last role, as Juan Peron's floozy in Parker's Evita found her being yanked out of bed by Madonna, the little flibbertigibbet. 'I had to look very pathetic and sad and forlorn, which I can do very easily,' she laughs. 'I wouldn't be so presumptuous as to call myself an actress. "Hi Julia! Here I am. What's my call time?"'

Given her fame, and the fact that The Corrs aren't short of a punt or two, it would be sickeningly inaccurate to portray Andrea as an everyday homebody - nor is she 'an isolated weirdo who is supposed to be inspired all the time'. Her lifestyle is 'a bit bohemian' but she admits she's a novice in 'the male/female thing'. Efforts to link her with past suitors, such as Robbie Williams, Gavin Rossdale and Eddie Irvine, have seldom gone beyond the 'are they or aren't they?' rumour mill.

'I'm not as busy as the tabloids think. This time they've got it right. Yes, I actually do have a boyfriend. Surprise, surprise. I'm used to saying, "I'm happy being alone." But that's my self-defence mechanism, because I haven't had this before. Sharon is married and Caroline's in a five-year relationship. I didn't have somebody to miss and to care about and who missed me.' Sharon, your violin please.

When she gets home the first thing on her agenda is 'seeing my boyfriend, obviously, and cooking dinner. I want to see my tables and chairs and the oven. I'll make a cup of tea and eat cereal whenever I like.' Happy pottering, Andrea.

The single 'Would You Be Happier' (EastWest) is out Mon 29 Oct. The album The Best Of The Corrs (EastWest) and the DVD Live In London are both out Mon 5 Nov.

 

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