When The Coral went on a hiatus, its members commenced working on their solo projects. That is how Ian Skelly’s and James Skelly’s debuts saw the light of the day. It was obvious that the older brother, James, had a difficulty giving up on the sound of the band, so Love Undercover sounded like a series of less successful compositions by The Coral in which the main theme is love lost and love found.
The stream of albums that The Coral members have delivered reminded me of The Strokes phase when they were on hiatus and did the same thing. In both cases, the members have proven to be a solid authors who could succeed on their own, If they wanted to. Contrary to The Strokes who really needed to take sabbatical, The Coral were back in the seat with magnificent two albums.
Besides The Coral, Love Undercover could be compared to the works of Ocean Colour Scene and Paul Weller, although James’ collection of songs does not deliver anything innovative nor original, as one might expect. Song are obsolete, they sound as If they were produced half a century ago. While we could encounter the same moment with The Coral, they always enriched it with a modern production, which could not be said for Love Undercover, where relaxing old-school tunes lack charisma throughout the whole record.
Truth to be told, the intro of the album is the best part of it, bringing several gorgeous compositions. As the songs move along, they interfere with one another in a manner that makes them difficult to differentiate. Ergo, If you are a casual listener, you are not going to become hooked. The fans of The Coral are certainly going to enjoy this record, although some might find it mediocre. If nothing else, You’ve Got It All is hands down an evergreen that will always be remembered as the highlight of James’ first solo material.
James Skelly & The Intenders are cool and fun, suitable for the upcoming spring. Love Undercover marked my summer five years ago, so I wanted to share it with y’all. Cheers!
