British indie rock group The Coral started their six-person group when they were still in their teens and immediately saw success. Consisting of neighborhood friends James Skelly (guitar and vocals), Ian Skelly (drums), Nick Power (organ), Bill Ryder-Jones (guitar and trumpet), Lee Southall (guitar and vocals) and Paul Duffy (bass and saxophone), The Coral formed in 1996. Immediately, they made headlines when NME paraded their sound early in 2001, which followed the group into the next few years via their Sony Music UK debut in July 2002. Later, with their American release in 2003 thanks to Columbia Records, the group was hailed as England's best new band with their popular hit singles and albums. A year after their debut album premiered, the Coral released Magic and Medicine, followed by Nightfreak and the Sons of Becker in 2004 and The Invisible Invasion in 2005. Their fourth album in just three years, The Invisible Invasion marked a cornerstone in the groups sound. Already the tight-knit group was falling apart even with loads of Brits and Mercury Award nominations, singles that topped the British charts and an international hit single via their fourth album, "In the Morning."

As the band finished up their worldwide tour promoting their 2005 album, guitarist Ryder-Jones left the group due to personal problems. But in reality, the remaining members knew what was going on. The Coral wasn't what it used to be. Though the group had reshaped the British rock, folk and psychedelia music to bring themselves fame and fortune, it left their history behind.

Taking a necessary and indefinable hiatus, the group left the spotlight to focus on their lives and their sound. Returning with the help of longtime fan Noel Gallagher, the group spent months creating their fifth album, 2007's Root & Echoes. Created in Gallagher's barn studio, the matured record speaks of family, loneliness, long distance relationships and more. With the return of Ryder-Jones, the group was finally feeling like themselves again.