The Coral's Paul Molloy's track-by-track guide to 'The Madmen Of Apocalypso'

If the future’s not bright it will at least be danceable as The Coral’s Paul Molloy releases his second solo album, The Madmen Of Apocalypso, 11-tracks of woozy-folk-ragtime-Dixieland-jazz-vaudeville-Spy-Fi-baroque-60’s-pop, neatly taking a scythe to the 21st Century’s bloated excesses, psychological messes and digital excesses. Making sense and nonsense of it all, Molloy offers listeners a track-by-track run down of the inspirations, fascinations and machinations of writing, performing and recording the album.

A monster mash-up of genres, moods and cautionary tales, The Madmen Of Apocalypso reverses through the jet age, zooming back to the 1920’s, soaking up the sounds of New Orleans dives and speakeasys before rushing back through mid-century dancehalls, valve-fired 60’s pop factories and acid-hued, eccentric, character-led British songwriting.

Having treated listeners to the high-kicking, Kinksian, Mariachi ode to American disaster property prospecting, Luxury Bunker, and the dance-crazed, hot-stepping to Heaven calypso rock and roll of Apocalypso, the former Zutons, The Stands and Serpent Power guitarist chooses a further release day single. Focused on AI and the humiliation of mankind by robots to lead listeners into the album, Artificial Intelligence has been picked out to lead the charge.

Marking the release of the follow up to 2020’s sought-after debut, The Fifth Dandelion, the Merseyside-based multi-instrumentalist offers his own guided tour of The Madmen Of Apocalpyso as follows: