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The Coral chat to I Like Music

The Coral are one of the UK's most successful bands with 8 top 40 singles (4 top 10 hits) since their debut 'Shadows Fall' in 2001 when the band were still teenagers. The Coral find themselves as the possessors of four top 5 albums - including the mini album 'Nightfreaks and Sons of Becker' and chart-topping 'Magic and Medicine' - at an age when many bands are still breaking through. Lead singer, James Skelly is the oldest member at just 26.

New album, 'Roots & Echoes' finds the band invigorated after a period of soul searching following the release of their third studio album, 'The Invisible Invasion'. It was also around this period that one of the founding members Bill Ryder-Jones decided to quit touring with the group leaving the remaining members questioning whether they should continue. Four long years of touring had taken its toll on the band and Bill's temporary departure was the final straw. According to James Skelly, "If you take one person out of The Coral, it's just not The Coral anymore. By the end of the last tour we were falling apart."

The band took a well deserved break and returned home to Hoylake, Merseyside. Eventually a period of demo-ing new tracks with long term friend and producer Ian Broudie along with continuous encouragement from the likes of Noel Gallagher enabled the band to rediscover their sense of purpose.

I Like Music caught up with lead singer, James Skelly to talk about the new material, learning from Noel Gallagher and Ian Broudie, and feeling invigorated.

"I Like Music because… it's the only thing that I'm good at."
JAMES SKELLY, THE CORAL

ILM: The first single from the album, 'Who's Gonna Find Me' is out 30th July. Can you tell us how the track came about and describe it's whole vibe?

JAMES: I'd written the beginning of it and it was just a slow song, it was just like picking on the acoustic and then I was showing it to Nick and he was like you could make that into a Northern Soul tune or Rolling Stones or something, and I didn't think much of it at first. Then we finished the song off in his house and then took it to practice and started jamming it over and the guy from our label came in and we were like, we've done this song and he said that should be the first single and from there that was the springboard for the album.

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Related links:

1. Win Tickets to The Coral at iTunes Festival
2. Buy The Coral Roots and Echoes album