| The Coral | |
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The Coral performing at the 2003 V Festival L to R: James Skelly, Ian Skelly and Paul Duffy |
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| Background information | |
| Origin | Hoylake, Wirral |
| Genres | Indie rock, Psychedelic folk, Neo-psychedelia |
| Years active | 1996–present |
| Labels | Deltasonic |
| Website | www.thecoral.co.uk |
| Members | |
| James Skelly Lee Southall Paul Duffy Nick Power Ian Skelly |
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| Past members | |
| Bill Ryder-Jones | |
The Coral are an English band formed in 1996 in Hoylake on the Wirral Peninsula in England. The band first emerged during the early 2000s (decade) and found success with their debut album The Coral (2002) and follow up Magic and Medicine (2003). The band continued to record and tour throughout the decade releasing the albums The Invisible Invasion (2005) and Roots & Echoes (2007).
In 2008, guitarist Bill Ryder-Jones left the band however The Coral continued as a five-piece. Their sixth album Butterfly House was released in 2010.
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Meeting at Hilbre High School in West Kirby on the Wirral Peninsula, the six friends would meet at each others' houses and the school music room where they would watch films, listen to music and play guitars. After leaving school they went on to jobs and university before quitting both to take up the band full time.
In 1996, Ian Skelly and Paul Duffy began jamming together using the name Hive. Ian's older brother James Skelly, Bill Ryder-Jones and Lee Southall joined soon after. The band briefly changed names to Oracle before settling on The Coral and the line-up was completed with the addition of Nick Power who joined in 1998.[1][2]
According to Deltasonic head Alan Wills he first encountered the band in a rehearsal room where they were playing pool. He thought they "looked cool" and decided to go and see them live. At that point the band hadn't released any records or have a fanbase.[3] When Wills discovered the band he had already started to think about starting a label but yet to realise it, and The Coral gave Wills the impetus to start Deltasonic. Wills told HitQuarters that: "It was always the aim to release them through Deltasonic, and it was always their aim to be on Deltasonic ... Most people wouldn’t have understood the Coral at that point." Wills also assumed responsibility for managing the band, albeit reluctantly as he was unable to find anyone else to take on the role.[3]
The band started as prominent members of the Liverpool music scene, playing many gigs around the city. The Coral's distinctive musical style has strongly influenced many other of the Liverpool-based label's acts, including The Zutons, The Dead 60s and The Rascals.
Hailed as the first English band of the "guitar group revival" the band released the critically acclaimed EPs Shadows Fall, The Oldest Path, and Skeleton Key in 2001. Their eponymous debut album The Coral, released in 2002, reached number five on the UK Albums Chart and was nominated for the Mercury Prize the day after its release. A successful UK tour and festival slots followed along with the singles "Goodbye" reaching number twenty-one in the UK Singles Chart and "Dreaming of You" reaching number thirteen. The single "Dreaming of You" was included in the United States sitcom "Scrubs" episode My Monster. The Coral also performed "Dreaming of You" live on Late Night with Conan O'Brien. In October 2010, on the eighth season of Strictly Come Dancing, Matt Baker and his professional partner Aliona danced a Quickstep to "Dreaming of You" as well.
After a hectic year they took it easy with recording yet again another critically acclaimed album Magic and Medicine in 2003 reaching number one on the UK Albums Chart, once more followed with UK, European, American and Japanese tours and a one-off festival Midsummer Nights Scream held on the New Brighton promenade and held an impressive line up of the then hottest up-and-coming bands. Singles from the album, "Don't Think You're the First", "Pass It On", "Secret Kiss" and "Bill McCai" reached number ten, number five, number twenty-five and number twenty-three on the UK Singles Chart respectively. The single "Pass It On" was also included in the United States sitcom "Scrubs", in the episode My Turf War. Released in 2004. In certain editions it came as a bonus disc to Magic and Medicine. It's much darker than Magic & Medicine, providing a psychedelic trip of sound and crazy outlandish melodies and guitar riffs.
In 2004 they began recording The Invisible Invasion but not before releasing Nightfreak and the Sons of Becker a limited-edition "mini album" getting to number five on the UK Albums Chart which was produced by Lightning Seeds singer/songwriter Ian Broudie (as were the first two albums), whilst Portishead's Adrian Utley and Geoff Barrow were in charge of The Invisible Invasion. This album also had a second CD containing live recorded versions of songs from this and previous albums.
In 2005, The Coral did UK, European, American and Japanese tours also releasing "In The Morning" which reached number six and "Something Inside of Me" reaching number forty-one on the UK Singles Chart.
The Coral toured with Arctic Monkeys during their 2007 summer festival gigs, releasing the single "Who's Gonna Find Me" on 30 July 2007 followed by the album Roots & Echoes on 6 August 2007. The band enlisted the help of Matt Potter for percussion and Jazz flute on the album. They also released a 3LP & 2CD compilation album The Singles Collection on 15 September 2008, featuring singles, rarities and new songs. A new single, "Being Somebody Else" was released on 8 September 2008. The album also contained a second CD entitled Magic & Mysteries which contained 19 previously unreleased songs/demos/live recordings of earlier songs.
They opened the 'BBC Electric Proms' on 24 October 2007 with "Who's Gonna Find Me" and were joined on stage by friend Noel Gallagher, who played lead guitar on their track In the Rain.
The Coral released their fifth album Butterfly House on 12 July 2010.[4] The album is produced by John Leckie, of The Stone Roses and Radiohead fame,[5] and was recorded at RAK studios in London as well as Rockfield in South Wales. The album includes singles "1000 years", "More Than A Lover","Walking in the Winter" and "Two Faces". The album was recorded through a two-year span where the band road-tested the material. This is The Coral's first album without guitarist Bill Ryder-Jones, who departed in 2008. The deluxe version of this album comes with a bonus CD of 5 additional songs.
The band's music is a mixture of 1960s-style psychedelia and folk-rock with old-fashioned country and modern indie rock influences. The Coral have released 7 albums, most recently "Butterfly House" in 2010. Their self-titled debut album was nominated for the 2002 Mercury Music Prize and later voted the fourth best album of the year by NME Magazine.
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