The Coral

Well, at the moment am getting round again, to loving The Coral, and it's all because of one humdinger of an album - the ideal way of getting into a body of music, slowly but surely seeping into you conscience, without playing it 2 or 3 times a day and then BANG !

That album is Butterfly House.

I first heard 'More Than A Lover' and liked it, then I heard '1000 Years' - ditto.....THEN I went to see them live 3 days ago where they performed it acoustically, with a Greatest Hits set tagged onto the end - it was stunning, and for a change, I wasn't pissed so can recollect it all.

Without wanting to sound trite, it's possibly the most melodic album I've heard for a decade with riffs that right remind me of John Squire at times (Roving Jewel) and vocals that kick ten bells out of The Byrds....James Skelly's voice is unbeleivable, both coming through my cheap stereo, mid priced laptop and live on stage. The LP makes you want to laze around drinking cocktails in the hot sun or literally 'Walking In The Winter' - it's an absolute masterpiece and easily their best album to date.

I adored them when the eponymous debut came out - thought they were some mad sea shanty band from The Wirral - and at the time, I was right, though my visit to see them in Manchester was disappointing, a 45 minute set of a very detached nature....'Magic And Medicine' album - hit and miss personally though 'Pass It On' was sweet enough.......'Invisible Invasion' album- brilliant, dark, eery and very underrated...... then came 'Roots And Echoes' - cool in parts ' Who's Gonna Find Me' 'Jacqueline' esp - but too much filler.

That's whats great about music, I'm now revisiting their past work and enjoying a lot of it all over again and hearing new sounds that had previously evaded my hearing - give Butterfly House a try, I might even, for once, be right !