From Innocence to Experience: 4 Years in the Life of U2

From our 2018 Annual, the full cover story by Olaf Tyaransen.

Ian Bailey To Face Murder Trial In France After His Appeal Is Rejected In Paris

The former journalist is to be charged with the 1996 murder of Sophie Toscan du Plantier.

Hot For 2018: 10 Books That Should Be On Your Read List This Year

Hot Press takes a look at the ten tomes that everyone will be talking about in 2018.

Eurosonic Report: Day Three in Groningen, with Soulé, Rosborough and Bitch Falcon

Eurosonic Report: Day One in Groningen, with Sigrid, Robocobra Quartet, Roe and the EBBAs

THOSE WE LOST 2017: Remembering Comedy Legend Sean Hughes

The recent death of comedian, actor and writer SEAN HUGHES, at the age of just 51, came as a shock to most people. OLAF TYARANSEN pays tribute to a genuine trailblazer of Irish comedy

THE 12 INTERVIEWS OF XMAS: Imelda May Reinvented

Imelda May was our cover star back in March, and shared everything from her birth, sex, love, divorce and death, all of which appear in her newest album. "It's the story of my life," she told Olaf Tyaransen.

THE 12 INTERVIEWS OF XMAS: Depeche Mode

Personal? Jaysus...Our man Olaf Tyaransen got a chance to talk with one of the biggest bands in the world at the start of 2017.

Ros na Rún Actress to Launch Debut Album in Galway

Dónal Lunny and Garry Ó Briain will be playing at Ann Marie Horan’s launch

U2's Songs of Experience: Track By Track

U2’S fourteenth studio album Songs of Experience – a companion piece to 2013’s Songs of Innocence – is set for release tomorrow, December 1. Olaf Tyaransen takes quick scoot through the album track by track, offering a tantalising taste of what to expect…

The Songs of Experience Countdown: Hot Press writers share their favourite U2 experiences

10 Hot Press writers share their favourite U2 moments as we get set for the release of Songs of Experience on December 1. On our fifth day, Olaf Tyaransen shares a story which reveals a side of Bono that the public rarely see.

In the Hot Press 2018 Annual: U2 go in depth about death, politics and family

With one week to go before their 14th album, Songs of Experience, U2 grace the cover of the 2018 Hot Press Annual.

Legendary Californian Folk Singer Julie Felix To Support SON at Monroe’s Live in Galway Tonight

Felix is probably best known as the woman who taught Leonard Cohen how to turn his poetry into song.

Album Review: The Corrs, Jupiter Calling

DUNDALK'S FINEST DELIVER ANOTHER SUPERB EFFORT

U2's Trafalgar Square MTV Show Ends In Draw

The big winners will be the TV audience tomorrow evening. There, the likelihood is that U2's music will shine through, in a way that makes sense of what was strange night in the centre of London.

Edge Answers Bono's Critics At U2 London Press Conference

In advance of their appearance in Trafalgar Square in London tonight, Adam Clayton and Edge spoke to a group of 15 Irish media personnel.

The Full Interview with The Waterboys' Frontman Mike Scott

The 12th studio album by The Waterboys, Out Of All This Blue, is their very first double album in a near 35-year career. Recently married frontman MIKE SCOTT talks about his love of Ireland, discovering hip hop beats, meeting Lou Reed and David Bowie, and the joys of fatherhood.

Sean Hughes - Remembering A Comedy Legend

The recent death of comedian, actor and writer SEAN HUGHES, at the age of just 51, came as a shock to most people. OLAF TYARANSEN pays tribute to a genuine trailblazer of Irish comedy

Album Review: Mark Geary, The Fool

Top Geary...

In Conversation With Adrian Crowley

Choice Prize-winner ADRIAN CROWLEY has just released his eighth album, Dark Eyed Messenger. He tells OLAF TYARANSEN why the songs could just as easily have been books or films.

Album Review: Slow Place Like Home, When I See You... Ice Cream!

Quality stuff from the Donegal groove mechanic.

The Full Interview: The Killers talk Trump, Bowie, Bono & Las Vegas

It’s been five years since mega-selling Nevada act THE KILLERS’ last album, but Wonderful Wonderful may be their most vital offering yet. Brandon Flowers and Ronnie Vanucci Jr. talk about growing up in Vegas, chasing the ‘Bono Talk’, Jackknife Lee’s work ethic, playing the White House, the deaths of Bowie, Cohen and Cornell, and the weight of expectation when it comes to making your fifth record. Interview: Olaf Tyaransen

ABBA co-founder Benny Andersson: On fame, sobriety and why he'll never write a memoir

Olaf Tyaransen speak with the legendary Swedish composer and ABBA co-founder BENNY ANDERSSON.

Album Review: I Tell A Fly, Benjamin Clementine

Highly experimental sophomore album from 2015 Mercury Winner.

Album Review: Dream Your Way Out Of This One, Niall Connolly

Excellent effort from prolific Irish artist.

Larry Flynt is hoping to bring down Trump but exactly who is he?

Olaf Tyaransen was granted a rare interview with the porn baron in 2008...

Olaf's Greatest Hits: The Explosive Courtney Love Interview

One thing is for sure: Courtney Love doesn't doe things by half. One of rock's most controversial figures, she lived in Ireland for a time in the late 1970s. She recalls taking photos for Hot Press, before moving to Manchester. Later, she famously met and married Kurt Cobain. While Cobain was still alive, she had established herself as a musician in her own right, successfully fronting her own band, Hole. Later, she starred in The People vs Larry Flynt, lost vast sums of money, dried up artistically and fell foul of any number of controversies. At the age of 45, she came back, with powerful new record Nobody's Daughter, a very strange boyfriend and - in this remarkable, free-wheeling interview - a shitstorm of gossip to get off her chest.

OLAF'S GREATEST HITS: Dave Gahan (1997)

The Depeche Mode singer, who months before had clinically died, was in confessional form when he encountered Mr. T in London...

It's ten years to the day since Radiohead released In Rainbows

Here's what Olaf Tyaransen made of their name your price album...

Album Review: Adrian Crowley, Dark Eyed Messenger

Brilliant effort from Irish-singer songwriter

OLAF'S GREATEST HITS: Gerry Adams (2003)

Osama bin Laden, Jean McConville, Detective Garda Jerry McCabe & IRA bombings were all on the agenda during a spectacularly frosty and fractious meeting with the Sinn Féin leader...

The National's Matt Berninger talks working with Lisa Hannigan, the 'stink' of Trump, and their newest album

Sleep Well Beast, the seventh studio album by enduring US indie darlings The National, is a hauntingly dark, paranoid, melancholic and sometimes angry affair. Frontman MATT BERNINGER talks about working with Lisa Hannigan, writing break-up lyrics with his wife of ten years, the “stink” of Donald Trump, and why their new record like “lunch with its underpants on.”

OLAF'S GREATEST HITS: Johnny 'Mad Dog' Adair (2007)

His encounter with the notorious UDA Company C leader is one of the most remarkable interviews ever published in Hot Press...

Music Review: Tor Amos, Native Invader

Mixed bag from cult singer.

Emma Lohan announces 'Black Atlantic Tour'

The Galwegian singer-songwriter is playing three Irish dates

Leo Varadkar Branded A "Tosser" By LCD Soundsystem Guitarist

The Taoiseach is a big fan of the band, who took Dublin by storm this week – but it seems that the feeling isn't exactly mutual!

Olaf Tyaransen visited Hugh Hefner in the Playboy Mansion

He was thinking of U2 as he drove through the gates...

Album Review: Candice Gordon, Garden of Beasts

Darkly spellbinding debut from Dublin singer.

Album Review, Aircraft of Tomorrow, Alas Euphoric

Debut album from Dublin-based electro duo is no Ryanair affair.

In Ireland Even The Dogs In The Street Are Taking Cocaine

Prize-winning greyhound Clonbrien Hero tested positive for the drug on three occasions. “I wouldn’t make a habit of it,” says racing insider.

Olaf Tyaransen On The Death OF JP Donleavy

The American writer's most famous novel, The Ginger Man, sold more than 50 million copies

Student Special: The essential texts for student book-lovers

Vera Twomey To Sing With SON At ‘SONGS FOR AVA’ Fundraiser In Waterford This Sunday

The event is being held in aid of seven-year-old Dravet Syndrome sufferer Ava Barry

Elbow Owned Day Three of Electric Picnic: Full Report

There was an abundance of great music, and lots of action in the Hot Press Chat Room, as Electric Picnic recovered from Saturday’s rain storms.

COUNTDOWN TO ELECTRIC PICNIC: Phill Jupitus talks to Hot Press about his EP return

In advance of his first Electric Picnic appearance in seven years, acclaimed UK standup Phill Jupitus talks multitasking at festivals, giving up booze, the stupidity of Brexit, and becoming a Doctor.

Watch: New King Kong Company Video ‘Involved’

A brand new track from the Waterford dance collective has just dropped…

The Secret Life of The Coronas - The Full Hot Press Interview

After years of soaraway success, The Coronas hit the buffers when a move to Island Records failed to work out as promised. But the biggest Irish rock band ever named after a typewriter have bounced back emphatically. The Indiependence-rocking quartet talk about hitting No. 1, high-profile relationships, drink, drugs, partying – and what the future holds.

Charlize Theron talks to Hot Press about her sizzling new thrillerAtomic Blonde

Oscar-winner CHARLIZE THERON had to learn how to physically fight for her starring role as a deadly MI6 agent in ultra-violent new spy thriller, Atomic Blonde. She reflects on the fall of the Berlin Wall, female empowerment, filming a lesbian sex scene, and her love of Depeche Mode.

EXCLUSIVE: Propeller Palms release video for new single 'Without A Care In The World'

The Waterford collective have today released their latest single with Hot Press.

U2: The Complete History of Their Live Tours - Vertigo to The Joshua Tree 2017 (Part 4 of 4)

U2: The Complete History of Their Live Tours - Lovetown to Elevation (Part 3 of 4)

U2 have always put more into the crucible of live performance than almost any other band on the planet, endeavouring to make every tour an artistic and creative statement in itself. In advance of the return of their Joshua Tree Tour to Dublin, we chart the circumstances of their tours, recall the iconic moments and the visual highlights and reprise what it is that makes them the world’s pre-eminent live act. By Olaf Tyaransen

U2: The Complete History of Their Live Tours - War to The Joshua Tree (Part 2 of 4)

U2 have always put more into the crucible of live performance than almost any other band on the planet, endeavouring to make every tour an artistic and creative statement in itself. In advance of the return of their Joshua Tree Tour to Dublin, we chart the circumstances of their tours, recall the iconic moments and the visual highlights and reprise what it is that makes them the world’s pre-eminent live act. By Olaf Tyaransen

U2: The Complete History of Their Live Tours - U2-3/Another Day to October (Part 1 of 4)

U2 have always put more into the crucible of live performance than almost any other band on the planet, endeavouring to make every tour an artistic and creative statement in itself. In advance of the return of their Joshua Tree Tour to Dublin, we chart the circumstances of their tours, recall the iconic moments and the visual highlights and reprise what it is that makes them the world’s pre-eminent live act. By Olaf Tyaransen

Chester Bennington's Final Hot Press Interview

The late Linkin Park singer spoke to Hot Press about their Minutes TO Midnight in Lisbon back in 2008

Mundy, Paddy Casey and SON star at Party for Ava

With Vera Twomey and her family exiled in Holland, where medicinal cannabis is legally available, it is impossible to escape the political backdrop to the Party for Ava which took place last night at the Tivoli Theatre in Dublin. Richard Boyd Barrett and Gino Kelly took up the pics...

The U2 Covers: No. 39, "The Edge on tour"

Olaf Tyaransen caught up with The Edge just as the band prepared to bring their iNNOCENCE & eXPERIENCE tour home for dates in Belfast and Dublin

The U2 Covers - No. 35: 'U2 Put The Boots In'

As U2 geared up for the release of No Line On The Horizon, they met HP to talk about the creation of their latest masterwork, meeting world leaders, the way they’re perceived in Ireland, the current state of the music business and their future plans.

The U2 Covers - No. 36: 'U2 Live'

7 years ago, Olaf Tyaransen reported from U2's No Line On The Horizon tour in Barcelona, ahead of the band's Croke Park headliner.

The U2 Covers - No. 31: 'U2: Closer To The Edge'

THE U2 COVERS: No. 38, "High Flying Words"

Hot Press' Olaf Tyaransen caught up with the band as they flew to Germany to promote Songs of Innocence

The U2 Covers - No. 28: 'U2: Boys To Men'

Back in 2000, Olaf Tyaransen spoke to U2 following the release of 'Beautiful Day', with their 10th studio album, All That You Can't Leave Behind, imminent...

Very Special Guests Promised For 'A Party For Ava' in the Tivoli Theatre Tonight

The fundraiser is in aid of six-year-old Dravet Syndrome sufferer Ava Barry.

The U2 Covers - No. 26: 'Adam Clayton: A Bass Odyssey'

20 years of U2, through the eyes of Adam Clayton.

Longitude Special: Lucy Rose comes to Dublin

With her third album Something’s Changing about to be released, Warwickshire-born singer-songwriter Lucy Rose explains how her Twitter tour of Latin America renewed her love of music and changed her approach to recording.

Irish actress Iseult Casey talks about the realities of abortion dramatised in her new film Twice Shy

Rónán Ó Snodaigh, Paddy Casey, Susan O’Neill and Mick Flannery to play fundraiser for Ava Barry in the Tivoli

Hot Press’ Olaf Tyaransen will be interviewing medicinal cannabis advocate Vera Twomey live onstage on the night…

On The Road With U2: Tales from The Joshua Tree Tour

Before the sold-out Seattle date on their Joshua Tree tour, U2 sat down with Hot Press to reflect on the creation of their iconic masterwork, the current political climate in the US, their upcoming Croke Park date, and their hotly awaited new album. Plus we report on the spectacular show itself and dip into the album’s mouthwatering deluxe reissue.

Hot Press 40th Anniversary: The Biggest Events Since 1977 (Mid'00s-Onwards)

Hot Press has lived through some truly extraordinary moments over the past four decades. Over the course of four parts, Olaf Tyaransen rounds up the 40 most seismic events since Hot Press was born.

Hot Press 40th Anniversary: The 40 Biggest Events Since 1977 (Mid '90s- early '00s)

Hot Press has lived through some truly extraordinary moments over the past four decades. Over the course of four parts, Olaf Tyaransen rounds up the 40 most seismic events since Hot Press was born.

Hot Press 40th Anniversary: The Biggest Events Since 1977 (1987-1993)

Hot Press has lived through some truly extraordinary moments over the past four decades. Over the course of four parts, Olaf Tyaransen rounds up the 40 most seismic events since Hot Press was born.

Hot Press 40th Anniversary: The Biggest Events Since 1977 (1977-1986)

Hot Press has lived through some truly extraordinary moments over the past four decades. Over the course of four parts, Olaf Tyaransen rounds up the 40 most seismic events since Hot Press was born.

The Full Interview with Ian Bailey - Victim of the State

In 1996, the French film director, Sophie Toscan du Plantier, was murdered just outside the small town of Schull, in West Cork. Twenty years on, no one has any idea what happened on that fateful night. What we do know is that someone in the Gardaí decided that Ian Bailey – a journalist from Manchester who had moved to West Cork six years previously – was the prime suspect. What followed is a tale of incompetence, corruption, abuse of due process, and perversion of the course of justice – plunging Ian Bailey into a never-ending, Kafka-esque nightmare. Here, for the first time, he talks openly and in great detail about the case to a journalist.

Irish Lion: The Full Hot Press Interview with Damien Dempsey

With the release of his seventh studio album, Soulsun, imminent, DAMIEN DEMPSEY discusses his occasional battles with depression, why marijuana should be legalised, having dinner at Brian Eno’s house, and working with the likes of Dido, Pauline Scanlon and Imelda May. Interview: OLAF TYARANSEN. Photography: KATHRIN BAUMBACH

Album Review: Hair Like Blood, The Cute Hoors

Excellent effort from veteran Irish rockers.

SON To Support Sharon Shannon At The National Concert Hall

It’ll be an all-Clare line-up onstage in the National Concert Hall in August with Ennis-born singer-songwriter Susan O’Neill (aka SON) confirmed as the support act to Sharon Shannon on the 17th of that month. Tickets (starting at €25) are on sale now.

Album Review: Galvany Street, Booka Shade (featuring Craig Walker)

Return to roots for Ireland/Germany collaboration.

U2: Donald Trump Takes A Back Seat In Seattle

Bono, Larry, Adam and Edge played the CenturyLink Field, Seattle last night and Olaf Tyaransen was on hand to give his verdict.

The Full Walking On Cars Interview

With the massive European success of their double platinum-selling debut, Everything This Way, Kerry’s WALKING ON CARS pretty much owned 2016. Currently back in Dingle writing the band’s second album, frontman Patrick ‘Pa’ Sheehy takes time out to tell OLAF TYARANSEN about their planned shows in Dublin, Cork and Belfast this summer, Fungie the dolphin, Danny Healy Rae, their creative process – and why quitting their day jobs was the best career move they ever made.

Patrick Bergin talks Red Rock, Irish politics and a life in front of the camera

Currently starring in TV3 soap Red Rock, veteran Dublin actor Patrick Bergin reflects on fame, success, money, and why some Irish politicians should be put naked in a roomful of wasps.

Rooney Tunes: Visual artist David Rooney talks swapping the paintbrush for the guitar

After three decades making his living as a visual artist, Hot Press illustrator DAVID ROONEY has just released his debut album. He tells OLAF TYARANSEN how Glen Hansard and Declan O’Rourke helped inspire him to swap his paintbrush for a guitar.

Dowd-Mouth! Interview with Eamonn Dowd

Veteran musician Eamonn Dowd on his new album Dig Into Nowhere, working with Nikki Sudden, and how rock n' roll saved him from a life of drudgery in rural Ireland.

Craig Walker & Booka Shade’s Galvany Street Out Now

When Craig Walker and Phoebe Killdeer were put together in a Paris hotel room for a songwriting session by their music publisher in 2009, they wrote the No 1 hit ‘Fade Out Lines’ in just five minutes. Now they’re collaborating on a new Berlin-based THEM THERE project.

Interview: Berlin's New Music Duo Them There

When Craig Walker and Phoebe Killdeer were put together in a Paris hotel room for a songwriting session by their music publisher in 2009, they wrote the No 1 hit ‘Fade Out Lines’ in just five minutes. Now they’re collaborating on a new Berlin-based musical project called THEM THERE.

Galway writer Alan McMonagle chats with Hot Press about his debut novel Ithaca

Having drifted aimlessly through his twenties, Galway-born ALAN McMONAGLE didn’t start writing seriously until he turned 30. Now aged 43, all of his hard work has finally paid off with the success of his debut novel Ithaca.

Personal? Jaysus! - The Full Depeche Mode Interview

Booze! Drugs! Lesbian strippers! One of the biggest rock bands on the planet, Essex synth warriors DEPECHE MODE also used to be amongst the most hedonistic. But on the release of their 14th studio album, Spirit, founding member Andrew ‘Fletch’ Fletcher tells a truly gutted OLAF TYARANSEN that their decadent days are long behind them...

Album Review: David Rooney, Bound Together

Stunning debut from Hot Press illustrator

Book Review: Peter Dunne, The 50 Things

Building Up Momentum: Hot Press looks ahead to the 14th International Dublin Gay Theatre Festival

Momentum Acting Studio are presenting a three-play suite about love, at the 14th International Dublin Gay Theatre Festival. Director LIZA MICHAEL talks about what attracted her to the work of Neil LaBute and Louis CK.

Canadian Government Moves Towards Full Legalisation of Recreational Marijuana

Making good on his 2015 electoral promises, yesterday Justin Trudeau’s Liberal Party government introduced legislation that will potentially see marijuana fully legalised in Canada by July 2018. Rapper Snoop Dogg had already tweeted his approval…

Back In Black: The Reinvented Imelda May

Imelda May’s stunning new album, Life. Love. Flesh. Blood, is strongly informed by her 2015 break-up with ex-husband and band member, Darrel Higham. In a remarkably revealing interview, she discusses working through personal pain on the record, reinventing her look and sound, collaborating with legendary producer T Bone Burnett in LA, and how advice from her friend Bono helped shaped the material. “I put my whole heart and soul into this album,” she tells Olaf Tyaransen.

Murphy's Draw: We talk to Cillian Murphy about his new film Free Fire

Peaky Blinders star Cillian Murphy discusses his return to Ireland after many years in London, his working methods, and his role as an IRA man in Ben Wheatley’s ultra-violent new action movie Free Fire.

Mod Save The Spleen: Going toe-to-toe with Sleaford Mods

It took numerous albums and over a decade of hard graft for cult Nottingham duo SLEAFORD MODS to finally start making a living from music. They’re now signed to Rough Trade, and Iggy Pop is a major fan, but acerbic vocalist Jason Williamson still isn’t happy…

Book Review: Alan McMonagle: Ithaca

Ian Bailey: “I’m Going To Be Arrested on Thursday”

Long-time murder suspect, Ian Bailey, has spoken to Hot Press about his current legal travails, the planned Jim Sheridan documentary about his case and his debut poetry collection, The West Cork Way.

The Stunning's Steve Wall describes fatal car accident as a "tragedy beyond belief"

Despite the car crash which claimed the life of the singer’s young niece, The Stunning’s Galway benefit show in aid of five female NUIG lecturers’ equality cases will still go ahead next week…