More should be afforded to The Coral after their string of successful records way back when. Capitalising on that was just not to be though their self-titled debut and Magic and Medicine linger on still, proud portraits of the UK indie scene at its most earnest. It continues on with Sea of Mirrors, the spaghetti western-inspired tracks within are of equal calibre to the likeable tone set by James Skelly and company all those years ago. Consistency is key and The Coral has plenty of it to their name. They find themselves honing in on works of a gunslinging variety here – not quite in the realm of Ennio Morricone but certainly pushed on by his inspiration. Flickers of his touch and flourish, the unique chokehold the great and late composer had, can be heard within.
Opener The Actor and The Cardboard Cowboy shed light on this, a brief instrumental opening to set the scene and toy with this new idea. No turning back from here, The Coral warns. Test the waters and let it lead into the neat and saloon-ready Cycles Of The Season. Deploying strings in all the right spots leads to a nice second track, the first song proper and a marvellous display from Skelly, whose vocal prominence here does not detract from the jig-like violin work. Repeating the title of this song is enough to get it over the line, a real highlight and a joyous shock to the system. The key to Sea of Mirrors is to just mirror the same idea, then. Faraway Worlds is another neat instrumental packed full of depth but detracted from as it begins repeating the title. Stick it elsewhere on the album and it’s fine, the slide guitar playing makes up for the double bill of title repetition, though.
Those twangs on lead single Wild Bird still hit nicely and within the context of the album offer a nice buffer and a clearer state of Sergio Leone influence. Steady yet forgettable acoustics dominate Sea of Mirrors – the light flourishes form a stream of consciousness smart enough to fall for and simple enough to be taken by. This is the effective expectation of The Coral now, who are consistently putting out interesting materials and slotting in around it light bits like The Way You Are. Love is still deep in their hearts and dominates their themes though the pain and Western influences lingering throughout show those unique and exclusive flourishes only Skelly and his crew can manage.
Repetition is at the heart of most of these tracks but swallow this bitter pill and enjoy a thorough collection of Coral classics. Flowing love songs and tenderness to Child Of The Moon wrap things nicely. Sea of Mirrors is more consistent and engaged pieces from a band with plenty of steady efforts behind them. Never afraid to give new sounds a spin, The Coral benefits tremendously from the eruptions of slide guitar and finger-plucking acoustics. It does not bring The Coral to the next level though album closer Oceans Apart provides a nice summary of the moving intricacies found in pockets of this latest release.
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