The Coral Release Surprise Album 388 and Unveil Video for Let The Music Play

The Coral have officially released their thirteenth studio album, 388, alongside a new video for the single Let The Music Play.

The release marks the band’s return to independent spirit, arriving first under the radar as a physical-only distribution – quietly stocked on independent record shop shelves – before being officially made available to the wider world via high street music stockists and digital platforms.

The surprise drop has already earned glowing critical reception, with MOJO Magazine and Record Collector both awarding four stars, Classic Pop following suit, and Uncut delivering a score of nine out of ten.

Recorded in just two weeks, 388 draws inspiration from a rich and eclectic range of sources: rocksteady rhythms, the vocal groups of the early 1960s, the celebrated Ethiopiques compilation series, and what the band describe as “the highs, lows, births and deaths of the last three decades.”

Across eleven tracks, the album finds The Coral stripping things back to their essence – a record that feels less like a reinvention and more like a homecoming.

Singer and principal songwriter James Skelly has spoken about the lead single, Let The Music Play, describing it as a tribute to a very specific kind of discovery. “The recording is an ode to the sound of cassette tapes by The Wailers and Lee Scratch Perry that we used to buy in second hand shops, Poundland and car boot sales,” Skelly explains.

“The song itself is us trying to make sense of the world but arriving at the fact that only music will ever make sense.”

It is a sentiment that feels entirely in keeping with The Coral’s long-standing relationship with music as a force unto itself – something to be sought out, collected, shared, and ultimately surrendered to.

388 is released on the band’s own Run On Records and is available now on standard vinyl, coloured vinyl, CD, and digital formats. The album follows 2023’s Sea of Mirrors, which gave The Coral their highest charting record in years, landing in the UK Official Album Chart Top Five.

The Coral are no strangers to that kind of commercial recognition. Over three decades, the Hoylake-formed band have accumulated six UK Top Five albums, a feat that places them firmly among the most consistently successful British guitar groups of their generation.

Their 2003 breakthrough Magic and Medicine remains a touchstone of noughties indie, home to the anthemic Pass It On, while the same year saw the release of Nightfreaks and the Sons of Becker, a krautrock-leaning concept album that demonstrated the band’s refusal to be pigeonholed.

Fourth album The Invisible Invasion followed in 2005, and the band’s most recent run has seen them scale similar heights with both Coral Island and Sea of Mirrors.

Their biggest-selling single, Dreaming of You, has long since entered the canon of great British pop songs and was certified platinum in 2025. The Coral’s self-titled debut was nominated for the Mercury Prize in 2002, and two years later they received a BRIT Award nomination for Best Group.

With 388, they show no sign of slowing. If anything, the deliberate simplicity of the recording process – two weeks, clear influences, no overthinking – suggests a band energised rather than exhausted by the weight of their own legacy.

The Coral will also be taking 388 to audiences across the country this summer, with a run of festival appearances beginning at Southampton Summer Sessions on Friday 12 June 2026.

The Coral 2026 Tour Dates

Friday 12 June – Southampton Summer Sessions (with Amy MacDonald)
Thursday 18 June – The Piece Hall, Halifax (with Amy MacDonald)
Saturday 27 – Sunday 28 June – State Fayre 2026, Chelmsford
Sunday 12 July – The Electric Heart Festival, Walton-on-Thames
Saturday 18 – Sunday 19 July – We Are Wirral 2026, Birkenhead
Friday 24 July – Tramlines Festival, Sheffield
Thursday 23 – Sunday 26 July – Rock Oyster Festival, Wadebridge
Friday 31 July – Kendal Calling, Kendal
Friday 21 August – Trentham Live, Trentham (with Madness)
Friday 28 August – Victorious Festival 2026, Southsea
Saturday 29 August – Wythenshawe Park, Manchester (with Courteeners)
Sunday 30 August – Big Feastival, Kingham

Tickets for all dates and orders for 388 across all formats and associated merchandise are available via the band’s official website at www.thecoral.co.uk.

The Coral 388 Track Listing

1. Let The Music Play
2. Ride That Train
3. Leave It In The Past
4. You & Me (And The Beautiful Sea)
5. Shame
6. Here Come The Tears
7. Yellow Moon
8. Sad Girl
9. High Tide
10. Spirit Catcher
11. Crossing The Sands