The Coral have shared their latest song ‘Oceans Apart’, surprising listeners with an exciting vocal cameo from actor Cillian Murphy.

The new single will feature on the band's upcoming album Sea of Mirrors, serving as the album’s closing track. The project showcases an exciting new direction for the musical outfit following their highly acclaimed Coral Island in 2021.

Providing a brief but powerful section on ‘Oceans Apart’, Murphy’s collaboration with the group was facilitated by the connections of the album’s co-producer, Sean O’Hagan. The Peaky Blinders star provides a vocal cameo towards the end of the song.

 

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The band have described the track as “The ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ Queen would’ve written if, instead of touring the world, they stayed in watching cinecittà studios films and listening to Gene Clark".

In a previous interview, The Coral explained the process that led to such an exciting addition to the track. Singer-songwriter James Skelly revealed that Sean O'Hagan "suggested we have some dialogue over the outro and said he’d done the soundtrack to Cillian Murphy’s first film, so he had a contact. A few weeks later, I got an email from Cillian saying he was a fan and would be up for helping us.”

The song is evocative and grand, reminiscent of music from a spaghetti western - an intentional move by The Coral. Sea of Mirrors is conceived as a sort of soundtrack to a B-movie that never was. It’s in keeping with this, then, that the group asked Murphy to put himself in the shoes of a jaded 1950s actor to prepare for his new role.

'Oceans Apart' comes in the wake of an announcement that The Coral would be releasing not one but two albums. As well as Sea of Mirrors, fans can eagerly expect Holy Joe’s Coral Island Medicine Show to release on September 22.

Listen to 'Oceans Apart' below.