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“There’s
a war going on/Ain’t the obvious one/It’s between
magic and medicine”. (Time Travel) There’s clearly
a war going on here too, of a quite different nature – between
The Coral’s innate pop-music soul and their desire to create
more restrained, complex and careful tunes. Has their increased
musical expertise overshadowed their wonderful songs? |
The
Coral - Magic And Medicine
[1] In The
Forest
[2] Don’t
Think You’re The First
[3] Liezah
[4] Talkin’
Gypsy Market Blues
[5] Secret
Kiss
[6] Milkwood
Blues
[7] Bill
McCai
[8] Eskimo
Lament
[9] Careless
Hands
[10] Pass
It On
[11] All
Of Our Love
[12] Confessions
of A D.D.D.
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| The Coral
are hardly the most difficult band to “get into”, but
for devotees of their wonderful self-titled debut, this will be
an exceptionally difficult record to like. They’ve matured,
and frankly, the best part of their first album was the utter eccentricity
and irreverence of it all. This is a band that should never have
grown up. |
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On
your first listen, it sounds like they’ve taken all their old
songs and put them through the washing machine a few times. Weak? Washed
out? Surely this can’t be the same band who brought us insane
sea shanty ‘Skeleton Key’ and perfect pop tune ‘Dreaming
Of You’? There are ballads on it, for goodness’ sake! And
not just man-plant metamorphosis epics like ‘Simon Diamond’,
either – actual love songs!
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Play it
a few more times, and it all comes into focus. ‘In The Forest’
isn’t dull – it’s eerie and mysterious. ‘Pass
It On’ isn’t bland – it’s wonderful, flowing,
jewel-encrusted folk-rock. And as for the aforementioned love
stories, ‘Liezah’ – a genuinely moving tale
of passion for a innocent girl whose only desire is “to
walk the cobbled streets alone/heading anywhere but home”
that ably demonstrates the more sensitive side of James Skelly’s
astonishing voice - is perhaps the best song the band have written
yet.
The Coral
have probably the largest number of guitarists of any band around
at the moment – an impressive three, plus one bassist –
and just as they were responsible for some of the finest moments
on ‘The Coral’, so they are on ‘Magic And Medicine’,
for example in the multiple-melody beauty of ‘Careful Hands’
and in the absolutely sumptuous layered riffs of ‘All Of
Our Love’. |
All of which leaves
Magic and Medicine as a highly successful second album. It doesn’t
trump their first, but then it’s an altogether different sound
for the group – more melodic, more restrained, more forward-looking.
No doubt it’ll put off more than a few fans, but quite frankly,
it’s their loss. One of the albums of the year.
4 out of 5
Patrick
Robertson
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