For the second entry in our “24 Songs of Christmas” countdown for 2025 (check out our ongoing playlist which goes back several years), we turn our attention to Merseyside psych-rock veterans, The Coral. Despite a career spanning three decades and twelve studio albums, the band has never released a festive track—until now. Breaking that long streak, the five-piece has unveiled “She Died On Christmas Day”, a track that serves as their first new music since the release of their Top Five album Sea Of Mirrors in 2023.
Far from the sleigh bells and cheer of standard holiday fare, this debut seasonal offering is described as a “cursed carol from a haunted jukebox”. Drawing inspiration from the mid-20th-century crooners who often juxtaposed romantic demise with upbeat melodies, the track features fuzzed-out vocals and dusty ballroom organs. It evokes the feeling of a fairground after dark, creating a distinctively eerie atmosphere for the holiday season.
The single is available digitally and as a limited edition 7-inch vinyl, titled Christmas On Coral Island. The release holds special significance as the title track features the final narration by Ian Murray, known to fans as The Great Muriarty. Murray, the late grandfather of band members James and Ian Skelly, previously provided the dramatic narration for the 2022 album Coral Island and the Holy Joe’s Coral Island Medicine Show. Keyboardist Nick Power notes that the band’s love for fifties and sixties rock and roll, combined with the “thrill and danger” of their New Brighton upbringing, heavily influenced this unique project.
While this single marks The Coral’s first new musical output of 2025, the band has remained in the cultural spotlight throughout the year. August saw a sold-out curated show, “A Late Summer Night’s Scream”, at Liverpool’s Grand Central. Furthermore, the band has enjoyed critical acclaim for the documentary film Dreaming Of You. Directed by James Slater and premiering at the Sheffield Doc Fest in June, the film chronicles the unlikely rise of five misfits who went on to define an era of British music. In parallel with the film, bassist Paul Duffy also released The Coral Caves Of Illusion in August, a retro 8-bit re-recording of the band’s debut album.
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