The Coral pictured in their early days
The Coral return with a long-awaited album plus a new track, Getintothis’ Patrick Clarke charts the Wirral band’s comeback.
The Coral are back after a four year hiatus with an album, recorded eight years ago, which is set for release imminently.
A new track by the Wirral-based band, titled Wrapped In Blue, has surfaced ahead of plans for album Curse of Love to be released “in the next few weeks” on their own Skeleton Key label. The band recorded the music more than eight years ago.
Revealed by Portishead’s Geoff Barrow, sitting in for Stuart Maconie on BBC 6 Music, the new album was recorded around the time of Invisible Invasion, which Barrow and bandmate Adrian Utley produced, on an 8-track cassette.
'Curse of Love' will be released by us in the next few weeks…..listen back to Geoff Barrow's guest spot on BBC… http://t.co/Hu3nekpJfO
— The Coral (@thecoralband) August 25, 2014
“It never really got finished and they moved on to the next album”, said Barrow on the show.
“I’ve got a copy on CD, I’ve been playing it for some years. I heard from [James Skelly] the other day and they say they’ve got it mastered and they’re going to release it.”
Wrapped In Blue is a pacey affair with a subtle injection of Can-esque electronica, while retaining the deft acoustic melodies and wistful psychedelia of the band’s finest material – with elements of classics like Jacqueline and When All the Birds Have Flown detectable.
More information about the new album is to be expected imminently, but for now Barrow’s program is available to stream for the next five days. Wrapped in Blue starts around the 16 minute mark.
Since their hiatus in 2012 each of the band’s members have embarked on solo careers or side projects; most notably drummer Ian Skelly released Cut From A Star in 2012 while singer James Skelly returned with Love Undercover in June 2013.
