Coral Frontman Explains Band's Acoustic Direction on New Album

Posted on Jul 22nd 2010 7:15AM by Chris Mugan
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It has been three years since the release of their last album, but the Coral have bounced back this month with the well-received 'Butterfly House.'

During that hiatus, the Liverpudlian group lost lead guitarist Bill Ryder-Jones and found breathing space through the 2008 release of 'The Singles Collection.' As reported in Spinner, the group got big-name producer John Leckie on board and went for a more pastoral feel.

Frontman James Skelly explained this was due to the band's new approach to songwriting. He told BBC 6 Music, "There's a lot of rhythms on the acoustic guitars in a way and we've gone back to using more harmonies. We've just played to the strengths that we've got. We based it around every song, you could play the whole album in an acoustic gig with just two or three or you."

However, Skelly admitted to still feeling butterflies before the release, his band's fifth studio album.

"You wonder what people will think, not as much as it used to be, but it's definitely still there," he said.

Funnily enough, the Coral promoted their greatest hits set in 2008 with an acoustic set at London's Coliseum theatre. During the interview, the singer also cited as inspirations for this album country mavericks Townes Van Zandt and Kris Kristofferson.