THE CORAL return with ‘Wild Bird’ and TWO albums for 2023

Following the widely-acclaimed 2021 double album, Coral Island, The Coral announce ‘surreal Italian spaghetti western soundtrack’, Sea Of Mirrors

– Bridging their UK Chart No.2 success and the sun-bleached sets of imagined films, the physical formats-only release of Holy Joe’s Coral Island Medicine show makes it two albums in one year

The Coral – WILD BIRD
From the forthcoming album Sea Of Mirrors
Released: Fri 8 September 2023
PLUS: Holy Joe’s Coral Island Medicine Show – PHYSICAL FORMATS ONLY
Run On Records in assoc. with Modern Sky UK
www.thecoral.co.uk
Singular psych-folk-pop-rock wanderers, The Coral revel in a resurgent phase of artistic enquiry and announce that TWO albums will be released later this year at the same time as revealing their first new music since 2021 – WILD BIRD. Imagining the scorched sand, cardboard cowboys and flooded sets of a never-made Italian spaghetti western, the single snaps the clapperboard on a new story playing out all the way to the release of Sea Of Mirrors, the band’s eleventh studio album ‘proper’ on Fri 8 September 2023.

After 2021’s expansive Coral Island album landed the Number 2 spot on the UK’s Official Album Chart and won unanimous critical praise, material for two, further albums occurred to the band. Amidst that songwriting scirroco, it was a script written by keyboard player, Nick Power, and vintage cinema foyer poster artwork created by drummer, Ian Skelly that confirmed Sea Of Mirrors’ vivid concept and the blueprint for The Coral to move beyond all expectations once again.

The film’s envisaged opening theme, Wild Bird’s evocative sunlit shadows come laced with deft string arrangements courtesy of the album’s co-producer, Sean O’Hagan (The High Llamas, Stereolab) who was welcomed into The Coral fold as one of a number of guests and collaborators featured across Sea Of Mirrors’ 13-tracks.

Between the two albums, the band additionally count actors Cillian Murphy and John Simm, plus Love guitarist, Johnny Echols, as contributors. Former band member, Bill Ryder-Jones joins the songwriting credits for Sea Of Mirrors. The Sundowners are also amongst guests adding their voices to the album.

James Skelly says of Wild Bird: “Like most of The Coral’s best known songs you could pick out, it was written in about five minutes. Once the album concept was clear, this was us imagining the theme tune for an Italian western directed by Fellini with a Richard Yates-written script. It’s us asking ourselves: what would have happened if Lee Hazlewood had produced a Gene Pitney song written by Townes Van Zandt?”

Bridging Coral Island and Sea Of Mirrors, a second album titled Holy Joe’s Coral Island Medicine Show will also be released this September. With the full tracklisting limited to one-off pressings on physical vinyl, CD and cassette formats only, the album brings James and Ian Skelly’s grandad a.k.a The Great Muriarty back into the fold for the narrated post-script to one of The Coral’s most successful albums to date.

Sea Of Mirrors and Holy Joe’s Coral Island Medicine Show became the last albums to be recorded at Liverpool’s legendary Parr Street Studios, a long-term home to The Coral and numerous other bands from inside and outside the city prior to its closure last year. Opening sessions with O’Hagan in London, returning to Parr Street and, eventually, completing in final sessions at Skelly and producer, Chris Taylor’s new recording facility, Kempston Street Studios, the album finds itself a part of music history for reasons beyond it’s place in The Coral’s extensive catalogue.

While restlessly moving forward album-by-album, The Coral’s legendary status in British music is already assured by their run of hit singles including Dreaming Of You (now on over 100 million streams globally and securing UK Platinum status), Pass It On, Don’t Think You’re The First and In The Morning. With ten albums to their name to date, six of those have reached the Top 10 including Coral Island and 2003’s No.1 chart success, Magic and Medicine which saw the band nominated for Best Group at the Brit Awards.

The Coral is James Skelly, Ian Skelly, Nick Power, Paul Duffy and Paul Molloy.

For information about releases and live dates, connect with The Coral at:

twitter.com/thecoralband
www.facebook.com/TheCoral
www.instagram.com/thecoralband