After three decades of spinning seaside psychedelia, haunted fairground melodies, and Merseyside myth-making, The Coral have finally delivered something nobody saw coming: a Christmas song. But, in true Coral fashion, She Died On Christmas Day is no cosy fireside singalong — it’s a beautifully eerie slice of festive noir that feels pulled straight from a cursed jukebox on Coral Island.
Their first new release since 2023’s Top 5 album Sea Of Mirrors, the track arrives as both a surprise and a natural continuation of the band’s long-running fascination with ghostly narratives and nostalgia-drenched storytelling. Instead of sleigh bells and sentimentality, The Coral lean into the macabre charm of mid-century crooners — the kind who’d wrap heartbreak and tragedy in a velvet bow — blending it with their unmistakable psych-folk haze.
From the opening moments, She Died On Christmas Day crackles with atmosphere. Fuzzed, tannoy-style vocals and a mournful fairground organ evoke the dilapidated glamour of a ballroom long since left to dust. It’s a track that feels both timeless and mischievously subversive, a festive tale dipped in shadow rather than sugar. For a band that has always been drawn to the mythic melancholy of British seaside towns, this is Christmas on their terms: off-kilter, cinematic, and strangely beautiful.
The single arrives paired with Christmas On Coral Island, released as a limited-edition 7”. The A-side marks the final appearance of The Great Muriarty — the late Ian Murray, grandfather of James and Ian Skelly — whose spoken-word storytelling has become integral to the band’s Coral Island universe. Here, his voice once again summons that world of flickering lights, lost piers, and characters living on the fringes of myth and memory. It’s a poignant farewell to a narrator who helped define one of the band’s most ambitious eras.
Nick Power reflects this spirit perfectly: “We love fifties and early sixties rock ’n’ roll… 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.”
She Died On Christmas Day feels like the band stepping back into that world with total confidence — the sound of the familiar Coral universe dusted with tinsel, yet still full of danger, romance, and strangeness.
Though 2025 has been a quiet release year, The Coral remain firmly in the cultural spotlight. Their self-curated A Late Summer Night’s Scream filled Liverpool’s Grand Central Hall this August, while Dreaming Of You, James Slater’s documentary about the band’s origins, has earned widespread acclaim since premiering at Sheffield DocFest in June. Even bassist Paul Duffy has been expanding the Coral lore, reimagining their debut in 8-bit form on The Coral Caves Of Illusion — a retro re-skin that delighted long-time fans.
Now, as the year draws to a close, The Coral have gifted listeners a Christmas single unlike anything else in the festive canon. She Died On Christmas Day may be dark, strange, and steeped in the band’s signature spectral charm — but it’s also oddly warming, like finding a flicker of candlelight in the depths of winter gloom.
It might have taken 30 years, but The Coral’s first Christmas song was worth the wait.
Stream She Died On Christmas Day on all major streaming platforms now. Follow @thecoralband on Instagram for updates or visit their website: thecoral.co.uk.
