Sea of Mirrors

by The Coral

Overview

The Coral weren't really looking to make another album so soon after completing the epic Coral Island concept album, but when one of their favorite haunts, Parr Studios, was about to close down, they took advantage of the friendly surroundings to cut another record. Two, in fact. The more substantial of the pair, Sea of Mirrors, is a sepia-toned, string-filled, and melancholy imagined soundtrack for a vintage spaghetti Western starring Lee Hazlewood as the busted-up and bitter troubadour. Calling in the arrangement expertise of Sean O'Hagan of High Llamas fame, the band chose to outfit the songs in orchestral flourishes, vocal choruses, and Western-friendly banjos and acoustic guitars. It ends up being their most adult-sounding album yet; stately and nostalgically sad, it sheds all traces of psychedelia in favor of an almost-middle-of-the-road approach where the road is old and covered in sand, barely used, and caked in nostalgia. The elaborate ballads and misty melodies are tailor-made for James Skelly's voice, he's got pipes big enough to inhabit the songs like an aging gunfighter while at the same time hinting at the pain lurking beneath the hard-worn surface. The band proves just as adept at creating the perfect atmosphere, filling the sonic spectrum with galloping basslines, rippling percussion, jangling and twanging guitars, and the occasional dusty piano. When paired with the widescreen efforts of O'Hagan, they come up with a sound old Lee would have been proud to call his own. Certainly one that some wily filmmaker might have stuck in their movie to conjure up a dramatically melancholy mood. The title track or "Wild Bird" could have fit into Midnight Cowboy with their aching vocals, shimmering strings, and downcast feel. Other songs might have been good for moments where lovers pine for one another ("That's Where She Belongs"), the lead ponders where it all went wrong ("North Wind") or wanders the night in a trance-like state ("Dream River"). The combination of O'Hagan and the Coral is so perfect it's hard to believe it actually happened. Each of them brings out something intrinsically good in the other; the Coral are so resolutely earthbound that O'Hagan's additions could never veer too far toward the precious, and his fluttering arrangements give the group space to nimbly explore lighter, less earthbound territory. It's definitely not like anything else in their catalog, and it's pretty clear by now that the Coral could take on just about any kind of guitar-based music and make it fully their own. Deeply bruised, cinematic, and graceful Western music is no match for their skills, and Sea of Mirrors is another triumph for the band. ~ Tim Sendra

Product Details

Release Date:	09/08/2023
Label:	Virgin
UPC:	5060732662452
Rank:	31333

Tracks

1. The Actor And The Cardboard Cowboy
2. Cycles Of The Seasons
3. Faraway Worlds
4. Wild Bird
5. North Wind
6. Eleanor
7. Sea Of Mirrors
8. That's Where She Belongs
9. The Way You Are
10. Dream River
11. Almeria
12. Child Of The Moon
13. Oceans Apart

Album Credits

Performance Credits

The Coral   Primary Artist
Chris Taylor   Bells,Organ,Mellotron
Sean O'Hagan   Piano,Guitar,Harpsichord,Fender Rhodes,Guitar (Acoustic),Vocals (Background)
Chris Fish   Cello
Nick Power   Organ,Piano,Guitar (Acoustic)
Dharambir Singh   Sitar
Patrick Savage   Violin
Ian Skelly   Drums,Vocals,Percussion,Guitar (Acoustic),Vocals (Background)
Amy May   Viola
James Skelly   Guitar,Vocals,Guitar (Bass),Guitar (Acoustic),Guitar (Electric),Vocals (Background),Guitar (12 String Acoustic)
Matthew Ward   Violin
Paul Duffy   Guitar,Guitar (Bass),Guitar (Electric),Vocals (Background)
Cillian Murphy   Voices
Jonathan Lee   Violin
Fiona Skelly   Vocals,Vocals (Background)
Niamh Rowe   Vocals,Vocals (Background)
Clifton Harrison   Viola
Ric Elsworth   Vibraphone,Bowed Vibes
Paul Molloy   Piano,Guitar,Vocals,Harpsichord,Slide Guitar,Sax (Baritone),Guitar (Acoustic),Guitar (Baritone),Guitar (Electric),Vocals (Background)
Austin Murphy   Flute
Raja Halder   Violin
Greta Mutlu   Violin
Maria Osuchowska   Harp

Technical Credits

Jim Morrison   Composer
The Coral   Mixing,Producer
Chris Taylor   Mixing,Engineer,Producer,Sound Design,Mixing Engineer
Greg Calbi   Mastering,Mastering Engineer
Gaz Coombes   Producer,Remix Engineer
Robby Krieger   Composer
Ray Manzarek   Composer
John Densmore   Composer
Sean O'Hagan   Arranger,Composer,Producer,Co-Arranger,Harp Arrangement,Rhythm Arrangements,String Arrangements
Andy Ramsay   Recording Arranger,Synthesizer Programming
Nick Power   Composer,Liner Notes
Bill Ryder-Jones   Composer
Ian Skelly   Artwork,Composer
James Skelly   Composer
Cillian Murphy   Narrator
Richard Turvey   Composer
Anna Benson   Artwork
Paul Molloy   Composer
Dominic Foster   Graphic Design
Simon Cardwell   Photography
Kaviraj Singh   Engineer,Recording Arranger