★★★★☆
The Coral make uncomplicated music and complicate it relentlessly. Their new album, Sea of Mirrors, was conceived as the soundtrack to an imaginary spaghetti western; their previous one, Coral Island, is a double album about a fictional seaside resort. Happily those records are perhaps the best of the Wirral group’s 27-year career — a new dawn that even the most obscure conceptualising cannot befog.
“It’s the first time we’ve played these to anyone,” the singer, James Skelly, said. “So be kind.” What followed was a four-song suite from Sea of Mirrors, the highlight of which was Faraway Worlds, a melancholy reverie featuring a gossamer solo from the guitarist, Paul Molloy. There was no need for kindness from the audience; the
