The Coral takes talent in new direction

The young band sounds surprisingly wise on new album Roots and Echoes.

By Kelsey Whipple

Published Aug. 21, 2007

The year 2005 was a big one for The Coral. The seven mates from Hoylake, England and their briny blend of folk, psychadelica and the occasional sea chanty made waves in their home country with four Top 5 releases in three years, establishing them as one of the UK's biggest buzz bands. They had the godfather of Britpop, Noel Gallagher himself, in their corner, and they had the critics in their pocket. Mainstream success loomed near, if offstage. There were no doubts they'd be out to sea for a while.

No one knows why the band's next act was to retreat, but from listening to its newest album, something has changed in the past two years and for the better. Roots and Echoes is evidence of a cleaner, straighter Coral, one that has ditched drugs and gotten down to business. Although the band's oldest member, lead singer James Skelly, is a hardly crotchety 26, it seems the young band spent the time doing some soul-searching. Sure, they're creative, but who expected they'd be wise?

For The Coral, who struck the charts around the same time as glam-rock mockery The Darkness, this maturity is both delightfully unexpected and at times decidedly unwanted. The simple beauty of "Put the Sun Back" proves folk music is still sexy. With Skelly's tender vocals telling listeners, "We've got to put the sun back in our hearts," it's a Britrock mix of The Carpenters and Johnny Cash that still manages to include a hint of Mersey Beat.

On the other hand, opening track "Who's Gonna Find Me" mixes a melody reminiscent of bad Boo Radleys with lyrics equally far from earth shattering. The song opens with, "It's six in the morning/ And there's no one else around/ The mist has fallen/ As I look out on the town."

Please.

Thankfully, this is The Coral's only lesson in the difference between interesting and insipid. After its last album, The Invisible Invasion, The Coral was dubbed the band to follow in the footsteps of The La's, but these are seven guys who don't follow anyone, not even Lee Mavers.

With guitarist Bill Ryder-Jones's recent return to the band he left in 2005, The Coral jumped at the chance to start again after a humbling two-year hiatus, this time as underdogs — a vibe they couldn't escape in songs. In the time it took the flighty UK music press to latch onto the next big bands like Kasabian and Babyshambles, members of The Coral accepted an invitation to use Noel Gallagher's personal studio, where they holed up, this time without weed, and hammered out their collective kinks.

And where Ocean Colour Scene, another Gallagher-approved band, is often trapped in British Invasion era tributes, The Coral did some invading of their own, delving into all the issues such a young band can be expected to face.

You get the feeling in "Rebecca You" that neither the fame nor the break has helped the band in love. Skelly sings, "You're out of reach/ Built a wall around you I can't breach" on the sad song, easily trumping the Kaiser Chiefs' all-hook hit "Ruby."

On Roots and Echoes, The Coral have reigned in a bit of the zaniness that used to be their trademark. The band is back, and fans should jump for joy, but if they expect the same old, same old, they shouldn't hold their breath. The album is not perfect, and it's not what fans expected, but it's definitely worth a listen. Roots and Echoes is the sound of seven guys taking their potential and doing what they want with it — not what they should. And for them, it works.