NEW YORK, NY. (Top 40 Charts/ KOCH Records) - "Nothing compares to Sinead O'Connor... and that goes double for her new album." - The Seattle Times (July 1, 2007)
"Fans see her as not just a singer but an icon of strength and integrity. And in an ironic twist, every step she has taken to withdraw from the spotlight has only made them clutch her closer. In the silences between songs, they called out to her: 'Welcome back, Sinead!' and 'That was beautiful!'" - Chicago Sun Times (September 25, 2007)
"We go for the voice. Powerful and pretty at the same time, a passionate and liberating expression of pain and sometimes happiness, and unmistakingly Irish in tone and spirit. And Sinead proved again Monday at the Pantages Theatre that she is one of pop's most committed singers and riveting performers." - Minneapolis Star Tribune (September 24, 2007)
Sinead O'Connor returns to Chicago, following her September 23rd performance at the Symphony Center, to make a special appearance on "The Oprah Winfrey Show" on Thursday, October 4 (please check your local listings). She will then commence the second leg of her lauded North American tour on October 20th in Toronto, performing songs off her critically acclaimed CD, "Theology," and many of her greatest hits as part of her highly anticipated world concert tour.
Sinead shares with Oprah how she has dealt with her bipolar disorder while balancing life as an artist and being a mother of four. She also discusses her newest album "Theology."
On October 20th, Sinead returns to her world tour schedule and to North America with a run of shows mostly on the Eastern Seaboard (see listing below).
The Chicago Sun Times recently said about a stop in the city on the first leg of the tour, "O'Connor has one of the great voices of the last quarter-century, gorgeously clear and resonant whether floating out over the drone of an accordion on 'I Am Stretched on Your Grave' or soaring with a swirl of organ and tin whistle. Likewise, her voice didn't stand out only for the ghostly gauzy weightlessness she brought to the new, scripture-derived 'If You Had a Vineyard' and the chill-raising four-part a cappella 'In This Heart.' Its sharp corners, quick shouts and cracked whispers were just as remarkable, and she used them all to animate her classic 'Never Get Old.'"
O'Connor also recently turned in a riveting performance of "If You Had a Vineyard" on the second season finale of the IFC channel's "The Henry Rollins Show" and was the subject of an interview in People magazine.
Released on Tuesday, June 26, "Theology," the first album of new Sinead O'Connor compositions in seven years, has been receiving rave reviews from music and mainstream press in the United States and the UK:
"'Theology' is exactly the kind of release I treasure from O'Connor," observed the LA Times (July 1, 2007). "What I hear is a mind resolute on understanding things I'd like to understand."
"O'Connor's, um, candor may have gotten her into trouble at times, but her social and spiritual convictions can make for beautiful and deeply affecting music, as this double-disc effort reminds us," exclaimed USA Today (June 2007). "The acoustic recordings on the album's first half, dubbed 'Dublin Sessions,' have the sterling purity of old English folk ballads, while the second disc's 'London Sessions' feature lithe, buoyant arrangements that prove equally fine showcases for O'Connor's vocals, still as achingly clear as her sentiments."
"'Theology' is the best record Sinead O'Connor has made for years," proclaimed The Sunday Independent.
"An exquisitely pure joy," raved Hot Press in giving "Theology" a "9/10" rating.
For her first extensive tour in years, Sinead started with a triumphant home-coming show at Dublin Castle on May 6 before coming to the states for her acoustic showcases. She previewed her "Theology" concert tour to ecstatic stateside audiences during two intimate sold-out acoustic concerts in New York City and Los Angeles this past June.
Influenced by a wide variety of musical and literary sources which have helped shape her aesthetic consciousness since childhood, O'Connor composed the majority of the songs on "Theology," the first album to be comprised mainly of her own material since her fifth full-length album, "Faith and Courage," was released in 2000. It premieres eight new songs written, or cowritten, by Sinead O'Connor as well as three covers: Curtis Mayfield's soul-searching "We People Who Are Darker Than Blue," a ferocious interpretation of Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice's "I Don't Know How To Love" (from "Jesus Christ Superstar"), and the traditional reggae spiritual, "Rivers of Babylon," with new lyrics written by Sinead.
"'Theology' is an attempt to create a place of peace in a time of war," said Sinead. "It is my own personal response to what has taken place and is affecting everyone around the world since September 11, 2001. I simply wanted to make a beautiful thing, out of something beautiful, which inspires me."
"Theology" was released by KOCH Records on That's Why There's Chocolate and Vanilla, Sinead's own label imprint.
Sinead O'Connor "Theology" World Concert Tour Itinerary:
October
20 October 2007 Massy Hall, Toronto / Canada
21 October 2007 The Bardavon Theatre, Poughkeepsie / USA
22 October 2007 Orpheum, Boston / USA
23 October 2007 Beacon Theater, New York City / USA
24 October 2007 Strathmore, Washington, DC / USA
26 October 2007 Tabernacle, Atlanta / USA
27 October 2007 Voodoo Fest, New Orleans / USA
28 October 2007 Hogg Aud U of Tex, Austin, Texas / USA
30 October 2007 Keswick Theater, Philadelphia / USA
November
09 November 2007 Leverkusen / Germany
10 November 2007 Aalen / Germany
12 November 2007 Royal Festival Hall, London / UK
13 November 2007 Casino de Paris, Paris / France
14 November 2007 Avo Sessions, Basel / Switzerland
15 November 2007 Melkweg Max, Amsterdam / Holland
16 November 2007 Deutsches Schauspielhaus, Hamburg / Germany
18 November 2007 Olympia Theatre, Dublin / Ireland
