The Coral

The Coral rank among the era's most reliably engaging and surprising groups, thanks to their talent for slipping in memorable melodies, the lively back-and-forth of their guitars, and the forceful delivery of vocalist James Skelly. Their boisterous style fuses '60s garage rock, psychedelic pop, and folk-rock while incorporating strands of Merseybeat, Motown, vintage blues, and sea shanties. Even though the sound shifted across subsequent releases—including the eerie folk of 2004's Nightfreak and the Sons of Becker, the lean indie pop of 2005's Portishead-produced The Invisible Invasion, and the robust '70s rock of 2016's Distance Inbetween—the 2002 self-titled debut that headed the U.K. charts helped keep the band both popular and influential. That same urge to test fresh sonic paths continued undimmed, as shown by the 2021 double-length concept album Coral Island, centered on recollections of English seaside resort towns, and the string-laden country-rock of 2023's Sea of Mirrors.

Formed in 1996 in Hoylake on the Wirral Peninsula across the River Mersey from Liverpool, the group began with school friends vocalist/guitarist James Skelly, guitarist Bill Ryder-Jones, drummer Ian Skelly, and bassist Paul Duffy before guitarist Lee Southall joined shortly afterward; keyboardist Nick Power completed the lineup a couple of years later. Their retro sound and enigmatic material drew the attention of former Shack drummer Alan Willis, who started the Deltasonic label expressly to issue the Coral's recordings, beginning with a 2001 single and two EPs that preceded the breakthrough self-titled debut LP. That album achieved immediate success, climbing to number five on the U.K. charts and earning a Mercury Prize nomination the day after its release.

Despite a demanding tour schedule the following year, the Coral swiftly assembled new material and entered the studio with producer Ian Broudie, a collaborator of one of their key influences, Echo & the Bunnymen. The resulting 2003 album Magic and Medicine offered tighter songwriting and a more polished approach, topping the U.K. album charts while the band broadened their live reach to the U.S., Europe, and Japan. Amid this activity they also recorded a quick stopgap mini-album, Nightfreak and the Sons of Becker, in a small North Wales shed with Broudie; the lo-fi, experimental set ventured into darker territory than its predecessor.

The next full-length took an entirely different direction when the band worked with Portishead's Geoff Barrow and Adrian Utley, who pared the sound to its atmospheric core and supplied an ideal backdrop for the group's strongest material to date. Following the album's appearance, Ryder-Jones withdrew from touring and David McDonnell took over guitar duties for dates that included shows alongside Arctic Monkeys. Although the band started another project without Ryder-Jones, they later welcomed him back and completed their fourth album with producers Broudie and Craig Silvey; the folk-rock- and sunshine-pop-inflected Roots & Echoes arrived in 2007 and reached the U.K. Top Ten. Shortly after its release Ryder-Jones departed permanently, attributing the decision to agoraphobia, depression, and nervous anxiety stemming from band life.

Reconfigured as a five-piece, the Coral recruited veteran producer John Leckie—known for work with acts from XTC to Radiohead—for their sixth album. Butterfly House, released in 2010, became their most contemporary-sounding effort to that point, with Leckie adding studio sheen to their bright psych-pop. An acoustic counterpart, Butterfly House Acoustic, followed later the same year. Sessions for the next record began at Peter Gabriel's Real World Studio but were halted midway when the members chose to enter hiatus, feeling creatively spent and eager to pursue side projects.

Ian Skelly's Cut from a Star appeared in 2012, followed the next year by James Skelly's Love Undercover on the brothers' Skeleton Key imprint. Ian also formed Serpent Power with former Zutons member Paul Molloy, releasing a self-titled album in 2014. That same year Skeleton Key issued the nearly finished 2006 recordings under the title The Curse of Love; the eight-track lo-fi psychedelic-folk collection contained twelve previously unreleased songs. While preparing the release, James Skelly found he had new Coral material ready, prompting the band—minus Southall—to reconvene.

Drawing inspiration from the memory of their late mentor Willis, who died in a 2014 cycling accident, and the music of Can and Hawkwind, the foursome quickly developed fresh songs. They were joined in the studio by producer Rich Turvey and guitarist Molloy, whose Stooges-style playing led to his becoming an official member. Distance Inbetween, heavier and more rooted in '70s sounds than prior work, appeared in 2016 on Ignition Records—the first Coral album not issued by Deltasonic. After several years of live dates, operating Skeleton Key and Parr Street Studios in Liverpool, and, for James Skelly, producing the acclaimed indie band Blossoms, the group recorded their ninth album, 2018's Move Through the Dawn. Reuniting with Turvey, they shifted toward a brighter, pop-oriented direction shaped by Jeff Lynne's production style and the freewheeling spirit of the Traveling Wilburys.

Extensive 2019 studio sessions yielded a broad range of tracks; after nearly abandoning the project the band shaped it into a double album. The global pandemic interrupted plans just as the tenth record neared completion, prompting further refinements and the separate release of The Lockdown Sessions—an acoustic set of Coral classics and covers by James Skelly—in May 2020. Almost a year later Coral Island arrived, weaving together threads from the band's entire career. Inspired by classic concept albums such as The Small Faces' Ogdens' Nut Gone Flake and The Kinks' The Kinks Are the Village Green Preservation Society, its first half evokes bustling fairgrounds while the quieter second half examines the off-season lives of its characters.

Although the band intended a break before further recording, they accepted the chance to be the final act to track at the soon-to-close Parr Street Studios. James Skelly arrived with new songs, and additional material emerged during the sessions. Once tracking finished, two distinct albums had taken shape: one a set of country-tinged narratives about gamblers, thieves, and killers that served as a coda to Coral Island, the other a loose soundtrack for an imaginary, weathered spaghetti Western. The country-leaning tracks were assembled as Holy Joe's Coral Island Medicine Show, connected by spoken interludes delivered by Skelly's grandfather in the manner of a radio host. Sean O'Hagan of High Llamas contributed strings and choral vocals to the Western-inspired material, heightening its sepia-toned, Lee Hazlewood-in-Europe atmosphere. Issued as Sea of Mirrors, the album also included novelistic liner notes by Nick Power and a guest appearance by actor Cillian Murphy.