Reviewed by Nathan Ford
In mid 2005, Bill Ryder Jones announced that he would be
leaving the Coral. Coming off the artistic growth shown on "The
Invisible Invasion", this was a bit of a shock for the band and fans
alike, but the Coral soldiered on, and "The
Curse of Love" came into being. Ryder Jones was then enticed back into
the fold, and it was decided that rather than continue on with a set of
songs that he had no involvement with, that the recordings would be
shelved - until now that is.
I had high hopes
for "The Curse of Love". It was recorded between my two favourite Coral
albums ("The Invisible Invasion" and "Roots & Echoes"), and a bit of
emotional turmoil is always good to get the artistic muse fired up, so
how could it possibly disappoint? On the other hand, there was always the possibility that maybe the band
realized that these songs weren't up to snuff, and took the opportunity
to start afresh with a breath of relief? So which is it?
Any
lingering doubts over that latter scenario are quickly dispelled on
first listen here. "The Curse of Love" may lack the immediate hooks that
characterized their albums up to this point, but there's a noticeable
maturity on show here, which makes the quantum leap in songwriting depth
between "The Invisible Invasion" and "Roots & Echoes" make a whole
lot more sense.
Ryder Jones' absence also seems to have encouraged the remaining members to branch out a little more too (something that they've never been adverse to anyway). The gorgeous "Wrapped in Blue" for instance, manages to effortlessly merge an acoustic skiffle shuffle with pulsing krautrock (quite prescient, considering how in vogue this currently is), with fluttering backwards guitars.
And while the choruses may showcase a subtlety that rewards those who listen actively more than ever, the exotic, eastern tinged arrangements on tracks like "The Curse of Love (Part 1)" are to die for, and entice the listener to invest the time needed to reap the full benefits of this extremely rewarding set.
Pre-order the CD here, and if you're quick, you can snag the limited edition vinyl LP here.
NME have an exclusive stream of the full album here now!
Ryder Jones' absence also seems to have encouraged the remaining members to branch out a little more too (something that they've never been adverse to anyway). The gorgeous "Wrapped in Blue" for instance, manages to effortlessly merge an acoustic skiffle shuffle with pulsing krautrock (quite prescient, considering how in vogue this currently is), with fluttering backwards guitars.
And while the choruses may showcase a subtlety that rewards those who listen actively more than ever, the exotic, eastern tinged arrangements on tracks like "The Curse of Love (Part 1)" are to die for, and entice the listener to invest the time needed to reap the full benefits of this extremely rewarding set.
Pre-order the CD here, and if you're quick, you can snag the limited edition vinyl LP here.
NME have an exclusive stream of the full album here now!
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