local venue, The Cavern Club, largely performing to tourists three times a day. They spent two years playing gigs and rehearsing original material, before Nick Power was brought in on keyboards. He initially planned to become a footballer but gave up on that after meeting the band sometime prior, choosing to become a musician instead. They had a rehearsal room at Crash Studios, which was owned by Peasey, who knew former Shack drummer Alan Wills. Wills saw the Coral supporting the Real People at the Lomax venue in Liverpool; he liked the performance but thought they were lacking in quality material. He put them in contact with his friend Joe Fearon, who had had an extensive record collection, showing them the works of Can, Captain Beefheart and Kraftwerk, among others. The Coral wrote "Skeleton Key" soon afterwards, which Duffy considered a turning point for them. As no one else was interested in taking the band on, Wills became their manager. At the time, he was running the label Eva, which released dance records. He was keen to release more guitar-orientated material; as the Coral signed with him, the label name was changed to Deltasonic on 1 January 2001. At Wills' recommendation, the band stopped playing gigs to focus on writing material for their debut studio album. "Shadows Fall" was released as a single in July 2001. Wills went to London to promote the band, igniting a bidding war between labels that resulted in Deltasonic becoming an imprint of Sony Music Entertainment. In November 2001, the band went on their first tour of the UK, which was followed by the release of The Oldest Path EP in December 2001. The Lightning Seeds frontman Ian Broudie saw the band during a show in Manchester, and wanted to work with them on their upcoming debut album. In January and February 2002, the band appeared on the NME Carling Tour in the UK, alongside Andrew W.K., Lostprophets and Black Rebel Motorcycle Club. Following the conclusion of the tour, the Coral began working on their debut album. The Coral was produced by Ian Broudie of the Lightning Seeds, and co-produced by the band (under the name Zion Egg); John Gray acted as engineer, with assistance from Kenny Paterson. The sessions occurred at Linford Manor Studios, located in Milton Keynes; it concluded by April 2002. Composition and lyrics Musically, the sound of The Coral has been