Coral Roots and Echoes

The Coral inadvertently created a persona for themselves with 2002's self-titled debut album. It was a scattered, glorious record that gained an abundance of critical praise due to the band's ability to dive into a myriad of genres. Adding to the hype was The Coral's collective age averaging about 20 years. The oldest was frontman James Skelly, just 21 at the time. These factors brought about dreaded terms such as "sophomore slump" and "beginner's luck." But The Coral managed to release three more solid albums since then, and now comes Roots and Echoes, their fifth and most focused full-length to date.

For this album The Coral harness their strengths and concentrate on a specific approach. Solid pop melodies are everywhere, but presented darkly and always with a hint of nostalgia. The band's influences are fairly forthright, mostly reminiscent of the rock music our fathers might listen to, making (the appropriately titled) Roots and Echoes sound like it could have been forgotten in some past decade, only to be unearthed some 30 years later. This allows for comparisons to a whole host of artists, but never one in particular. The Kinks, The Moody Blues, and Echo and the Bunnymen all come to mind. It doesn't matter how many comparisons we make since The Coral tackle their songs with subdued sincerity and emulate only the best moments of each of the aforementioned acts, never mimicking or pilfering.

Songs like the opener, Whose Gonna Find Me drive strong, and are pretty simple as far as instrumentation goes, with Skelly's confident vocals and plenty of eerie harmonies stealing the show. The textures widen with some strings and synths, but they never grow unwieldy or are used in a haphazard manner. Gone are most of the sudden tempo and texture changes that were recognizable on past works. Songs like Jacqueline are straightforward charmers. Enough attention is paid to detail to keep the band's quirkiness intact. The slower efforts sound a bit more pastoral than sea-worthy and succeed in creating an insulated and comfortable little world.

By not taking many chances, The Coral have in fact taken a huge chance. Reliance is placed solely on strong writing, Skelly's voice and the creation of a ghostly mood. It may all seem a bit lackluster for a band that is known for being impulsive, but toning things down was actually an effective move to make. The key to maturity is a level of self-restraint, as proved by The Coral.