The Coral were about 12 (ok, 16) when they started and by 20 were big stars. Their first two albums were very good but they tailed off a bit, presumably while they grew up and got their heads together; they’ve keep popping up on other albums and we’ve lost track of the number of relations of the Skellys who’ve released music.

Now they’re back: the fact that they’ve had a five-year break and that this is their eighth studio album and they’re still only in their early 30s shows how young they started.

Anyway: this new one could be their best yet. They’ve turned into a polite English version of Queens of the Stone Age, adding some heavy riffs to a solid drone/groove, with the rhythm section very much at the centre.

Opener Connector is more like their earlier material, a groovy psychedelic tune (they’re the connector, the listener is the receiver). White Bird has more of a sixties psychedelic sound, the soundtrack to a grainy black and white movie about hippies travelling to Woodstock.

Former single Chasing The Tail Of A Dream is a psych-rock tune with an enjoyable long guitar solo. James Skelly is sounding very Scott Walker especially in the early standout Miss Fortune, but in the long instrumental sections you don’t miss him either.

A strong album; it took some time to grow but we predict it’ll sound outstanding at festivals this year.