The Coral release 'She Died On Christmas Day' their first ever Christmas single

The Coral release a cursed carol from the haunted jukebox with their first ever Christmas single…
 
She Died On Christmas Day

The Coral – She Died On Christmas Day
Released with Christmas On Coral Island ft. The Great Muriarty
OUT NOW
Digital PLUS Limited Edition 7” Vinyl
Run On Records in assoc. with Modern Sky UK
www.thecoral.co.uk

WATCH / LISTEN

Three decades and twelve albums haven’t offered a single Christmas song from Merseyside psych sorcerers, The Coral, until now. As overdue as the reply from Santa to a lost child’s letter and as cursed as Krampus’ footsteps getting closer in the dead of Christmas night, the filmic five-piece release She Died On Christmas Day, their first new music since 2023’s Top Five album, Sea Of Mirrors.
 
Preoccupied with the cheery crooners of the mid-20th Century who sang the demise of their lovers and the songwriters who weaved ghoulish tales into chart-bound hits, The Coral’s own mastery of subtly sinister songcraft continues this festive season. Eerily resplendent with fuzzed, fairground announcement vocals and crying lines of dusty ballroom organ, the band’s own, inimitable take on a seasonal single is a brilliant, if burnished bauble of December malcontent.
 
With a limited edition 7” release available to fans and collectors, titled Christmas On Coral Island, the title track is the last to feature the narration of the Ian Murray, also known as The Great Muriarty. Bringing dramatic poise as narrator on both The Coral’s 2022 album, Coral Island and 2023’s ‘spirit broadcast’ of Holy Joe's Coral Island Medicine Show, Ian and James’s Skelly’s late-grandfather ably sets the scene on the A-side.

“We love fifties and early sixties rock n’roll, especially the British stuff,” says the band’s Nick Power. “To us, it’s the sound of where we grew up: New Brighton and the fair, the lost piers, the thrill and danger of towns at the end of existence. If there’s an opening where we get to explore that side of us, we’re always up for it.”
 
Although The Coral haven’t released any new music for the preceding 11 months of 2025, the band has enjoyed celebratory shows, not least band-curated A Late Summer Night's Scream at a sold out, 3,500-capacity Grand Central venue in Liverpool in August, but also widespread critical and audience approval for the Dreaming Of You, the James Slater-directed film telling the story of the band’s formation.
 
Premiering at Sheffield Doc Fest in June before enjoying wider release, the film’s unlikely story of five misfits forming one of Britain’s most revered bands and releasing an era-defining, self-titled debut album has further established The Coral’s broad cultural contribution in the wider public consciousness.
 
In parallel with the film’s release, having been asked to create bespoke elements of the film’s soundtrack, bassist, Paul Duffy released The Coral Caves Of Illusion in August. Released on AV8 Records, the album was a re-recording of the band’s debut album in 8-bit format, bringing set-list standards such as Shadows Fall and Goodbye to listeners in the style of retro video game soundtracks.
 
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