The Coral – Singles Collection

Considering it's called Singles Collection, this retrospective of much-loved Hoylake band The Coral is a bit of an odd construction. It consists of two discs - the first is the actual singles collection itself, which curiously doesn't entirely consist of the band's singles. The second disc is full of "Mysteries and Rarities" - meaning that it's a curious blend of out-takes from the band's five albums to date, live recordings, demos, and other odds and sods. Covering all phases of the band's career (including, on disc 2, a demo from before the band were even signed), this will satisfy both as an introduction to this unique band and as an interesting batch of rare material for existing fans.

One of the things that always made The Coral special was their often retro sound. In terms of production, instrumentation and songwriting, James Skelly's men often reminded their listeners of classic 1960s music, mixing elements of the psychedelic in with classic rock touches and a modern sensibility. With all these things taken into account, The Coral never really sounded like anyone else, and this collection is a timely reminder of the breath and depth of their accomplishments.

The first disc is a concise but effective look back at the superb string of singles The Coral released between 2001 and the present day. It's a varied back catalogue, and a consistently strong one - there's the wonderful 2007 song "Jacqueline", with its vibrant guitars and bittersweet lyrics, the pounding slice of garage rock that is "Goodbye", the creepy and haunting shuffle of "Shadows Fall"... Skelly's voice is a thoroughly impressive instrument, especially at its most soulful on "Dreaming Of You" - across these singles he covers almost all the bases, sometimes sounding wistful and dreamlike, sometimes a little more aggressive, but always interesting. Full of highlights, the first disc is excellent - perhaps the only thing holding it back is that there are plenty of people who have heard these songs many times before and already cherish copies of the albums they appear on... for everyone else, however, it's near-essential.

Moving on the second disc, and it is, unsurprisingly, a bit of a patchwork in terms of the wildly differing origins of the material here. Switching frequently from polished studio material to live recordings to demos is a little jarring at times, but that's the nature of compilations like these. There's a huge 19 tracks on offer, so it's tough to pick out highlights - "The Golden Bough" is a gritty, atmospheric song built on background fuzzy keyboards, echoing guitars and insistent drums - it was recorded in a recent studio session. The live recording of "Bye Bye Love" from the Isle of Man isn't quite up to the stratospheric standards of Simon & Garfunkel's famous version, but is still great. Elsewhere there are more new tracks in the form of "Michael's Song" and "Cry of the City", an instrumental demo of "Shadows Fall" which is interesting to compare to the finished version, and "It's In Your Hands", a demo recorded way back in 1999, before the band were signed.

Odd though it is in terms of what it comprises, Singles Collection is nevertheless an thorough combination of singles and rarities. It captures many of the important milestones in the band's existence, and makes me think that The Coral was an appropriate name for the band - like coral, this music is beautiful, exotic, and natural.
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