The Corrs are back – with a bang.

In its first week of release, the band’s new album Jupiter Calling is at No.12 in the mid-week charts in the UK, confirming the likelihood that they will be back in the UK Top 20 at the weekend.

With its reliance on real musicians playing real instruments, the album – produced by the legendary T. Bone Burnett – goes against the grain of what is happening in the charts generally, by eschewing a heavily-produced pop sound.

“People are afraid that the won’t get played on radio,” manager John Hughes told Hot Press. “They are encouraged to believe that they have to have everything polished to a T. This album goes entirely against that way of looking at things. For the most part, it is the band, playing live. So it is a completely different kind of record. Which is what makes the response to it so encouraging.”

In effect, out of nowhere, the band are storming the contemporary Pop Bastille. And they are doing it with adult songs – notably the smartly titled 'SOS (Song of Syria)’, in which the band deal head-on with one of the most intractable political issues of the moment.

There is also a vinyl version of the album, reflecting the fundamental musical values which drive the band.

“Thoughtful, reflective, contemporary and as marvellously melodic as ever": that was Olaf Tyarnasen’s verdict on the record (the full review is in the current issue of Hot Press). The exciting thing is that – with a low key opening promotions push – the record is exceeding expectations by some distance. This is an Irish band that just might have a fresh hit on their hands. Stay tuned to hotpress.com.