Merseyside band The Coral surprise fans with brand new album

Hoylake’s The Coral have today surprised their fans with the release of a brand new album titled 388.

Two weeks after being released under the cover of a physical format only distribution, quietly stocked on independent record shop shelves, The Coral officially release their thirteenth studio album with a video for new single, Let The Music Play.

Responding to rumour, the band officially releases 388 to the wider world via high street music stockists nationwide and digital shop windows today.

Singer and songwriter, James Skelly, says of the single:

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

Hitting the UK Official Album Chart Top Five with their last album, 2023’s Sea Of Mirrors, The Coral also hit the road on a run of festival dates this summer, opening with Southampton’s Summer Sessions on Fri 12 June 2026.

All of the band’s imminent live appearances are confirmed as follows:

• Fri 12 June: Southampton, Southampton Summer Sessions w/ Amy MacDonald
• Thu 18 June: Halifax, The Piece Hall w/ Amy MacDonald
• Sat 27 – Sun 27 June: Chelmsford, State Fayre 2026
• Sun 12 July: Walton-on-Thames, The Electric Heart Festival
• Sat 18 – Sun 19 July: Birkenhead, We Are Wirral 2026
• Fri 24 July: Sheffield, Tramlines Festival
• Thu 23 – Sun 26 July: Wadebridge, Rock Oyster Festival
• Fri 31 July: Kendal, Kendal Calling
• Fri 21 Aug: Trentham, Trentham Live w/Madness
• Fri 28 Aug: Southsea, Victorious Festival 2026
• Sat 29 Aug: Manchester, Wythenshawe Park w/ Courteeners
• Sun 30 Aug: Kingham, Big Feastival

The track listing for The Coral’s 388 is as follows: 

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

Over the past three decades, The Coral have released six UK Top Five albums, including 2003’s Magic and Medicine, featuring noughties indie-defining single, Pass It On, alongside krautrock concept album, Nightfreaks and the Sons of Becker (2003), fourth album, The Invisible Invasion (2005) and the recent brace of Coral Island and Sea of Mirrors. The band’s biggest selling single, Dreaming of You, has entered the songbook of great British pop songs and was certified platinum in 2025, while their debut album was nominated for the 2002 Mercury Prize. They were nominated for the BRIT Award for Best Group in 2004. 

For tickets and more information, head over to The Coral’s website.

Fellow Merseyside musician Jamie Webster also announced a new album this week, read more here.

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