Pool Of Sound - The Coral

The Coral

In 1996, six school friends from Hilbre High School, West Kirby, Wirral would join together to form 'Coral'. Firstly we had Ian Skelly and Paul Duffy jamming together in the basement of Flat Foot Sams pub in Hoylake, then, over the following months, they were joined by Bill Ryder-Jones on lead guitar, Ian's older brother James Skelly on vocals and main songwriting duties, and Lee Southall on rhythm guitar. The band were known briefly as 'Hive' before choosing the name 'The Coral', and the line-up was completed with the addition of Nick Power, who joined as keyboard player in 1998.
The band's music is a mixture of 1960s-style psychedelia and folk rock mixed with some country and indie influences. Over the years their distinctive musical style would strongly influence many other Merseyside groups.

It was under Alan Wills mentorship that 'The Coral' would come to spearhead a new Merseyside scene of the early 2000s, with 'The Zutons', 'The Dead 60s', 'The Rascals' and others following in their wake. Between them they set the wheels in motion for the last gasp of genuinely great British guitar bands with The Zanzibar club in Liverpool giving them, as well as many other bands, their first run of gigs.
Having got a residency at the Cavern Club on Sunday afternoons, Alan Wills had heard them and then formed his record label Deltasonic round them. He already had the germ of an idea of forming a label but it was in 2000, after he spotted a poster of 'The Coral', "our grandad's head exploding" as they put it, that the record label was formed and a new Merseyside musical movement would begin.

Dreaming Of You

Their first release in 2001 was the single 'Shadows Fall' followed by the EP, 'The Oldest Path', in the same year and then in 2002 the EP, 'Skeleton Key'. Also in 2002 their eponymous debut album 'The Coral' reached No.5 on the UK Albums Chart and was nominated for the Mercury Prize the day following its release. A successful UK tour and festival slots followed, along with the singles 'Goodbye' and 'Dreaming Of You' reaching No.21 and No.13 respectively. It was 'Dreaming Of You' that sent the band, barely out of their teens, stratospheric. Barely two minutes long, crammed with sawtooth jabs of guitar, sax, and a memorable bass line, it was to be the zenith of the New Rock Revolution, outstripping a glut of eager soundalikes that would follow.

Following a hectic year they recorded 'Magic And Medicine' in 2003 which reached No.1 on the UK Albums chart gaining critical acclaim. They followed this release with UK, European, American and Japanese tours and a one-off festival 'Midsummer Nights Scream' held in a big top on New Brighton promenade supported by 'The Libertines', 'The Zutons', 'The Bees' and 'The Thrills'. Four singles from the album reached top 25 places in the UK Singles Chart.
In 2004 they quickly recorded the mini-album 'Nightfreak And The Sons of Becker' which was released with little promotion and no accompanying singles, it was also included as a bonus disc with US versions of 'Magic and Medicine' and marked another change of direction for the band, showcasing a darker, funkier and more lo-fi sound.
In 2004 they began recording 'The Invisible Invasion' which was released in 2005 entering the charts at No.3. In June 2005 guitarist Bill Ryder-Jones took a break from the band and it was announced that he would not tour again, but might continue to help with future recordings. He was replaced by David McDonnell for 'The Invisible Invasion' tour.
At the beginning of 2006, however, Ryder-Jones was persuaded to rejoin as a full-time band member and the band began work on another album 'Roots & Echoes'.

They toured with 'Arctic Monkeys' in 2007, also releasing another single 'Who's Gonna Find Me' plus the album 'Roots & Echoes'. With Matt Potter enlisted to play percussion and jazz flute, this album
was a much more laid-back affair, and displayed a new-found maturity to the band's songwriting.  They opened the BBC Electric Proms with 'Who's Gonna Find Me', joined on stage by Noel Gallagher who played lead guitar on their track 'In the Rain'.
In January 2008 Ryder-Jones left the Coral, apparently due to experiencing panic attacks before playing live, and finding that his desire to be part of a commercially successful band had disappeared.
They released their sixth album 'Butterfly House' in 2010 with Record Collector Magazine notably praiseworthy: "Butterfly House… continues to set the benchmark high. A thing of true wonderment ...this is a genuine contender for 2010 album of the year." In February 2011, 'Butterfly House' was duly named UK Album of the Year 2010 at the Music Producers Guild Awards.

On 23 November 2015 the band announced their 2016 return after five-year hiatus. The new studio album 'Distance Inbetween' was released in 2016, accompanied by UK and European tours in the Spring and saw the band return with purpose and verve. Guitarist Paul Molloy joined the band during the recording of the album, replacing Lee Southall who had chosen to take a break from the band in order to focus on his personal life and a solo project. In April 2018 the band announced their ninth studio album 'Move Through The Dawn', released in August that year.

 
However sensational the group were on their early records, on stage they were ten times better. Ian Broudie said of them, " A lot of the Liverpool bands around could be great, but 'The Coral' in isolation are special and fantastic. It's rare to get bands who have been at school together; because of that, they have evolved very naturally. Usually there are one or two special musicians in a band, but 'The Coral' are all virtuoso. Bill is a fantastic lead guitarist... in fact, they all complement each other so well. It's hard to explain. It's a bit like 'The Beatles'; John Lennon was great but then so was George Harrison."

Their forthcoming album 'Coral Island' is their eighth studio effort and can stake a realistic claim of being their best yet, as recent singles 'Faceless Angel', 'Love Undiscovered' and 'Vacancy' emphatically attest to.

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