The Coral: 'We're a bit like hermits'

The Coral tell Alexia Loundras why they'd rather stay in than go out partying

James Skelly, The Coral's fiery frontman, burns with resolve. He knows what he wants and he's going to make damn sure he gets it. "I'm going to Turkey," insists the singer. "The Champions League final - I'm not missing that!".

James Skelly, The Coral's fiery frontman, burns with resolve. He knows what he wants and he's going to make damn sure he gets it. "I'm going to Turkey," insists the singer. "The Champions League final - I'm not missing that!".

Dressed in anonymous jeans and jumpers the seven-piece, which includes Skelly's younger brother, Ian, on drums, are more like a bunch of spirited sixth-formers than a rock band. Relaxed and joking among themselves, they're so absurdly normal they look incongruous amid the garish pop portraits of the TRL studio anteroom. They wear no eyeliner, no skinny ties and no drainpipe jeans; refreshingly, they're not in the least bit styled. In a time when almost every other band in the Top 40 is sounding like an electro-ravaged Eighties throwback, The Coral offer a blast of inspiration very much of their own.

Instead of dated accessories, The Coral's trademark is that they are an almost impenetrably close-knit band of individuals held together by a fierce all-for-one-one-for-all mentality. They seem to seek no validation from fans, peers or critics. And while the lads - all still in their early twenties - are polite, honest and engaging, they make no time for spurious niceties; though they do all MTV asks of them, they'd clearly rather be somewhere else.

From the moment they burst on to the musical landscape with their "Shadow Falls" EP in July 2001, The Coral were a beacon of talent and invention in a sea of copycat rock. The schoolmates emerged from their sleepy Wirral sea-side town of Hoylake wielding timeless music that mixed Cossack rock, Captain Beefheart, Echo & The Bunnymen, The Doors and psychedelic sea-shanties. Their distinctive songs were rich with imagination and brimming with ideas.

Upon hearing The Coral rehearse, the former Shack drummer Alan Wills was so smitten by them, he founded a label, Deltasonic, in order to release the band's output. It was not long before Sony came calling, inviting Deltasonic - and Skelly's gang - into their corporate fold with a big money deal. The Coral's captivating eponymous debut earned the band a place on the Mercury Prize shortlist, and two Brit Award nominations for Best Newcomer and Best Album. Having already won over the critics, the band's second album, 2003's, Magic & Medicine claimed the hearts of the wider public too, slamming to the top of the album charts on its release.

But The Coral's standing as the jewel in Deltasonic's crown was to be short-lived. Liverpudlian five-piece, The Zutons, snapped-up by Deltasonic in the wake of The Coral's success, borrowed their neighbour's fevered mash of psychedelic rock, soul and blues and drove it into the mainstream. Who Killed The Zutons?, also Mercury nominated, went on to sell more than 600,000 copies, considerably more than either of The Coral's albums had managed.

"We opened the door for The Zutons but they didn't get successful off our back," says Ian. "They toured their arses off and they've worked hard - that's how they sold all them records."

The Coral say they have no problem with mainstream success, but concede that won't happen unless they put in the leg work. "I'd be gutted if no one bought our records," says James. "I want people to buy them, to be inspired by them - but I'm not prepared to do the work it takes to be as big as bands like that. I'm just not that kind of person.

"If we'd toured our albums any longer I would have gone crazy," he adds. "You start to flip out: take drugs and drink and lash out because you're pissed off about having to play the same songs for two years. You stop feeling human. Touring just gets so boring."

The Coral have an aversion to all things "boring" and anything vaguely showbiz - from the Brit Awards to trendy soirees, The Coral have shunned them all. "We're just the same as we've always been. We never went to people's parties before so we're not about to start now," says James. "We'd much rather be home making music."

When you count last year's Nightfreak & the Sons of Becker and The Invisible Invasion, out on Monday, The Coral's creative output is four albums in as many years. "That's because writing songs is what we do," says James. "It's just part of our normal lives, as in: have a drink, go to practice, watch a bit of telly, go to a football match, play some tunes, have a bath."

"We don't really go out much," adds Ian sheepishly. James giggles guiltily at the admission. "We're a bit like hermits," he continues. "We just like to sit by the stereo and write songs."

On The Invisible Invasion, The Coral's melting pot of genres has been simmered down and distilled into an intense aural concoction. There are hints of the band's retro rock flavours, but there's a delicate subtlety and maturity to their sound that was sometimes missing before.

"We're not afraid to be more effortless," James says. "We don't feel we have to chuck everything in there any more. When we recorded our first album, we were young. It was natural for us to have loads of nervous energy, for us to want to prove ourselves to the world, but now we want our music to be more natural.

"I want people to do the washing up to our music," the singer adds. "No one buys our records because of the clothes we wear, do they?" he grins. "If we've got people's ears, we're set up; if we write good songs people will buy them."

With The Invisible Invasion The Coral have their most refined and accessible album to date, but the band insist they're not even close to having run out of ambition. "We've been honing our style," says James excitedly, "but there's still more to come - we've only scratched the surface. The Beach Boys didn't get to Pet Sounds before their fifth album. And that's what we want, our Pet Sounds."

Nothing, it seems, is as important to The Coral as The Coral. Not even James's love for Liverpool FC can match what the frontman feels for his band. "I understand what I got into music for," he says. "You hear a tune and it makes you feel special - you feel someone is going through what you're going through. It inspires me, it makes me feel good. That's why we make music," he says. "I did want to be a footballer but, sadly, that didn't work out. But I'm going to Istanbul."

'The Invisible Invasion' is out on Monday on Deltasonic; The Coral play Manchester Academy 2 on 28 May