Having been inactive as a group for the past two and a bit years The Coral have now finally got round to having The Curse Of Love mastered & made fit for release. Recorded back in 2006, upon Bill Ryder-Jones' initial exit from the line-up it was subsequently shelved when he returned to the fold for a bit. Sound-wise then it's obviously going to be more in the vein of The Invisible Invasion / Roots & Echoes than the lusher sound produced on 2010's Butterfly House.

The trademark melancholic-yet-whimsical sound of the band's initial years is therefore here in spades, possibly augmented by the loss at the time of Ryder-Jones. Leading off with the sparse 'The Curse Of Love (Part 1)' there's a conceptual feel to the whole enterprise with wintry and dark imagery being conjured up on song after song - hang men & gallows, weeping meadows, old women sat with their cats by the fire and that confounded curse of love.

Live these songs will be best served by an intimate venue although there's a burst of life mid-way through 'You Closed The Door' as the guitar cuts loose. There's never any feeling of bitterness in the work but that song title's yet another thing to get you thinking that at the time of recording things were a bit moody.

For 'View From The Mirror' to now be finally available for wide consumption, the album's existence is utterly justified. One of the most atmospheric songs the band have ever done there's a distinct feeling of hairs standing up on the back of your neck each time you play it. Close on its heels 'The Watcher In The Distance' ups the album's tempo with an almost swing jazz time signature married to some nicely psychedelic effects and guitar work, which could easily have lasted another minute or so.

Overall then this is a welcome release after its enforced hibernation (and one which also raises the possibility of the band's similarly on-hold recordings from 2012 finally seeing the light of day) and, whilst all members seem content working on other projects, a tour on the back of it would be equally welcome.

The Curse Of Love is released on October 20 and available from amazon & iTunes.

Le Guess Who? has announced yet another festival-within-a-festival with the line-up for Fuzzland (a successor to 2012's Fuzzbox) taking place across four venues on the Saturday and Sunday of this year's event.

Concentrating on garage-rock and punk the bill for the shows involved includes sets from The Monsters, Wreckless Eric, King Tuff; Curtis Harding; Benjamin Booker, Deers; The Intelligence; Liquor Store; Danny & The Darleans; Juan Wauters; Yonatan Gat Far-Out Fangtooth; Obliterations; Chuckamuck; The Garden; Movie Star Junkies; The Miseries; The Coathangers and Full Ugly with others still to be announced between now and November 20.

The wider festival line-up has also had Viet Cong (featuring former members of Women); Homeboy Sandman; I Am Many; PCPC (project of Parquet Courts together with PC Worship); Tape; Maarten Vos & Greg Haines and The Walking Who, amongst others added to it + world music additions in the shape of Turkey's Baba Zula, Ogoya Nengo & The Dodo Women’s Group (performing a rare show outside of Kenya) and Portuguese veteran Americo Brito.

Details of future line-up additions as well as further information and tickets can be found at the festival's website. A four day pass will only set you back €100.