Album: The Coral, Butterfly House (Deltasonic)

I can't quite put my finger on the reason why, but Butterfly House isn't doing it for me with quite the alacrity of previous Coral albums.

It's just as impeccably wrought, and James Skelly's lonely voice brings an austere authenticity to some songs – particularly on "Walking in the Winter", a sort of seasonal equivalent to "Here Comes the Sun" – though overall it lacks the gripping quality of their earlier work, with too many routine exercises like "Green Is the Colour" and "Two Faces". The folksy, psychedelic mood is captured well by John Leckie, with "Butterfly House" a CSN-style harmony fantasia, and "Falling All Around You" recalling the innocent tone of early Simon & Garfunkel; but this kind of retro-folk-rock has been done so much better recently by Midlake on The Courage of Others.

DOWNLOAD THIS Walking in the Winter; Butterfly House; 1,000 Years