Album review: James Skelly & The Intenders, Love Undercover (Skeleton Key/Cooking Vinyl)

James Skelly & The Intenders, Love Undercover (Skeleton Key/Cooking Vinyl)

Like his fellow Wirral resident Miles Kane, Coral frontman James Skelly profits from the input of Ian Broudie and Paul Weller on his solo debut – the latter most evident in the stomping mod beat of opener “You've Got It All”.

It finds Skelly in more emotive manner than with The Coral, searching for an R&B impetus that extends into “Do It Again”, a great lolloping blues boogie. But his more familiar jangly psych-rock style abounds elsewhere, in “Searching for the Sun” and the slide-streaked pop euphoria of “What a Day”. Elsewhere, fresh influences are ably wielded on the Western-flavoured “I'm a Man”.

Download: You've Got It All; Do It Again; What a Day