The Coral - Pass It On
[Deltasonic]

After the insanely hypnotic 'Don't Think You're The First' single comes a lovely acoustic number with jangly guitars, thankfully not in the same vein as the awful 'Dreaming Of You'.

Obviously eager to lose their quirky, cheeky humour, 'Pass It On' is a discovery of maturer song writing. Ditching chirpy pop songs with shouty vocals in favour of a sound most bands don't reach until 5 albums into their career. Singer James Skelly sounds serious and older in his voice as he sings. Folk and Blues are the key influences throughout, as are the poets Skelly often namedrops in interviews, hence the strong lyrical messages. Production has also stepped up after the weak sounding debut album and sounds wonderfully fresh, even considering it's a Folk song. Although nothing new is portrayed, it's still a classic Pop song, cementing The Coral further into commercial success.

The live B-sides either suggest a lack of new tunes or a sad attempt to plug their older tracks. Nevertheless, 'Shadows Fall' will always be a well received track, so it makes perfect sense to treat fans to a cracking version. It seems like an age since 'Shadows Fall' was originally released, since then a lot has changed for The Coral, including a fresh new sound and 2 albums to their name. If the album is full of tracks like these, the lads are laughing.