The Coral- 'The Invisible Invasion' (Deltasonic) Released 23/05/05

It becomes clear about halfway through the title track of this album that The Coral are back to their best. Their second album ‘Magic and Medicine’ was generally praised by the indie press, but not so much by the hardcore fans, who fell in love with their pirate antics and fast paced rhythms of their eponymous debut. On the aforementioned 'M&M', the pirate hats were discarded for an unplugged acoustic sound, which was evident on tracks such as the largely successful ‘Pass it on’ and the widely less successful ‘Secret Kiss’.

This isn’t to say that the folky sound of 'M&M' has gone. Tracks such as ‘So Long Ago’ and ‘Late Afternoon’ are very much ‘album tracks’, but they still fit with the feel of the album and hark back to the band’s latest efforts, this also includes the mediocre mini album ‘Nightfreak and the Sons of Becker’.

What is most evident on this album though, is that The Coral have made an album which, by all accounts, should please everyone. Album opener, ‘She sings the mourning’, is a great track to kick things off. The lyrics of frontman James Skelly are as always, very hard to decipher, he talks of everything from ‘glens where roses twine’ to ‘treacle tarts and turpentine’. It has somewhat of a Bo Diddley feel to the tempo, but the lyrics and overall feel are very much a hark back  to fellow scousers Echo & the Bunnymen. The whole mysteriousness of the song and many others on the album (‘A Warning to the Curious’, ‘Cripples Crown’) is the backbone of the record and provides interesting listening for both Coral virgins and hardcore fans alike.

The two album highlights are the song that you’ll all have heard by now ‘In the Morning’, and the track which should really close the album ‘Arabian Sand’.' I.T.M' boasts one of the catchiest hooks of the year (yes, that sparkly keyboard bit) and was a decent choice for the first single. ‘Arabian Sand’ is probably the best song The Coral have ever recorded, it just gets better and better every time you hear it. With great lyrics “can you dance with the lepers in madman’s house?’ and an equally catchy hook as 'I.T.M', it is a career highlight.

The only real flaw with the album is its consistency, tracks such as ‘Cripples Crown’ and ‘Late Afternoon’ just drag. If the album was cut short a bit, it would be one of the very best of the decade. As it is, believe the hype, believe Noel Gallagher and believe me when I say, these boys are ****ing ace!