"Roots & Echoes" The Coral

I'm really glad I didn't give up on The Coral. Looking back, it's kind of a wonder I didn't, I mean, "Skeleton Key" was a fun song, "Calendars and Clocks" was pretty far out there good, and "Spanish Main" was a great sea shanty, but the rest of their first album was pretty bizarre (and not in a good way). But then "Magic and Medicine" came out and blasted my ass out with it's awesomeness. It wasn't a rocking album, quite the contrary, as it sauntered wantonly between rock and traditional folk, but that balance was met with aplomb and the disc is still one of my favorites. At the same time, they released the experimental (and interminably weird) "Nightfreaks and the Sons of Becker", but then you'll have that with an album that was reportedly recorded in a week and a half. When they finally released another proper album with, "The Invisible Invasion", I was incredibly disappointed. I still think "Arabian Sand" is one of my least favorite songs by one of my favorite bands. Got that? Good, now lets move on. It seems to me just now, as I was scrolling through the tracks, that they were clearly fiddling about in their bag of musical influences and digging deep into the garage/psychedlia of the 60's, maybe hanging out with some Kinks records, who knows. But then out comes "Roots & Echoes" with it's lush orchestration and overt pop stylings, it's like they've left some of the oddball notes at the door and came to play with a keen ear for aesthetically pleasing tunes. Even the rough edges of the first track, "Who's Gonna Find Me?" have been smoothed out with some fine grit sand paper (and probably cleaned up with a tack cloth, for good measure). "In The Rain" shares some lineage with most of those tracks on "Invisible", but again, the edges have been dulled, the vocals are crisper, the instruments are more dynamic (gone are the droning, repetitive, frenetic guitars of "Arabian Sand") and the overall tone of the song is taking itself less seriously than those tunes on their previous record. While there are some great, "Invisible"-style garage/psych tracks (albeit toned down, more refined versions) "Roots & Echoes" shines with it's ballads. The album definitely leans toward the mid-century flower child folk, but The Coral sound - by which I mean surf guitars and organ jams, occasional maritime riffs and Brian Wilson harmonies - still shows through. The girl songs, "Jacqueline" and "Rebecca You" are two particular highlights of the album, perhaps even their career, in my opinion. It's songs like these soaring yet delicate, rolling, strolling, sunshining numbers that made me shake my head in disbelief at just how good these guys are. Another notable track is "Not So Lonely" with it's absolutely perfect use of the rock flute, a grossly underutilized instrument in today's music. When the song drops for just that split second - when the vocals step back, when the flute takes center stage - it just sends chills down my spine. And then, before it's all said and done, the duet with the James Skelly and the flautist just shocks you with it's beauty. The album closer, "Music At Night" flows with the effortless grace of a quarterhorse. The rocking of a gentle trot ever so slowly creeping into a canter and finally a full-on, string-laden gallop. As the comfortably predictable gait carries the song - and the album - into the distance, we're reminded that "Roots & Echoes" has been anything but.

"Not So Lonely" The Coral
"Rebecca You" The Coral
"Music At Night" The Coral

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