The Cranberries will be kicking off its first U.S. tour in about three years on Wednesday in Washington, D.C. The month-long theater outing is in support of the Irish act's latest effort, "Bury the Hatchet," which hit store shelves on Tuesday.

Singer-guitarist Dolores O'Riordan told MTV News that the band's fourth record is much lighter in spirit than its previous work, "To the Faithful Departed," and comments that the change is definitely a positive one.

[article id="1442109"]"I think it's, like, softer than the third album, definitely, but I think that was a good call, you know what I mean,"[/article] O'Riordan said. [article id="1442109"]"The third album was very hard and very depressing. I mean, a lot of people loved it, but they just commented on it as kind of very depressing and very sad. But it's like that, you know."[/article]

The frontwoman added, [article id="1442109"]"It's like a lot of paintings, pictures of your life,

and each album depicts a couple of years in a person's life, and I don't think anybody goes through life smiling all the time." [RealVideo][/article]

For those of you looking to smile at the next Cranberries show in your neck of the woods, tickets can be purchased on the group's official Web site, as they are exclusively being sold online. Check out www.cranberries.com for details.