Interview: CORELLA; FINDING THE BEAUTY IN A WORLD TO LOSE
- Tara Lakatos
- 7 hours ago
- 7 min read
Updated: 24 minutes ago
The Manchester band opens up about their heavier second album, embracing a rawer sound, growing together and why the live show remains at the heart of Corella.
Q: For readers who may be discovering Corella for the first time, can you give us a little background on the band?
CORELLA: We’re from different parts of the north of England, and we all moved to Manchester around nine or ten years ago. We didn’t know each other before that — we met at university because we were staying in the same halls. It was totally by fate. We’d all come to Manchester wanting to start a band, and luckily we ended up in the same place. From there, we gigged around Manchester, played the circuit and started building a following. Then we branched out across the UK, which led to some really cool support tours. We’ve done a lot of headline shows, played Reading and Leeds and other indie festivals, and gone over to Europe for headline shows. More recently, we’ve supported Circa Waves and Kaiser Chiefs, which has been amazing. We’ve done pretty much all of it ourselves.Our first album came out in 2024, after years of singles and EPs, and now we’re ready for album two.
Q: Your second album, A Beautiful World to Lose, has a considerably heavier title than Once Upon a Weekend. Did something change between those two records in the way you were looking at the world?
CORELLA: Quite a lot happened in our personal lives, and that definitely fed into the lyrical content of the second album. It’s interesting hearing the two titles put side by side, because the first album was very much about optimism. Since then, certain things have happened in our lives, and we’ve been there for each other through them.At the same time, we don’t want to make the second album sound completely bleak. We’ve established ourselves more now, especially with our fan base, and we wanted to talk about the real things that happen in life — things that have hit us personally. If we can put those experiences on a record, there’s probably someone out there who has gone through something similar.There are songs about loss and frustration, but amongst all of that there’s still a beautiful world out there that you can sometimes forget about. You have to keep going — for your friends, your family and yourself.
Q: Even with some heavier subjects, the music still feels uplifting. Was that contrast intentional?
CORELLA: If you can write a track where the lyrical content is heavier but the music still has a good feeling to it, people can connect with it in a different way. It doesn’t all have to be doom and gloom.We also tested ourselves on this album. We worked with a new producer, Jason Perry, after working with the same producers on the first album and the singles before it. We went to Malta to record, so there was a bit of stepping into the unknown. We came out the other side with something we’re really happy with.
Q: People always say you have your whole life to write your first album and then only a few years to write the second. With an audience waiting this time, did that make the second record harder to write?
CORELLA: There was definitely some figuring out to do. We’ve always enjoyed writing different styles of music, so part of the process was deciding what direction we wanted to take for the second album. That probably took a little longer than we expected.Sometimes you have to let the time happen and give yourself space to figure it out. In terms of having a fan base waiting for it, hopefully they’ve been patient with us and it’ll be worth the wait.
Q: What were some of the biggest challenges during the writing and recording process?
CORELLA: Going to Malta and working in a different studio with a new producer was a challenge in itself. We barely took any equipment with us because the studio was packed with instruments. The place felt old and very wooden, like it had a lot of history, so we went in almost blind and let the record become what it was going to become through that environment.We were there for about three weeks, basically locked away together — although we can’t complain too much because we could run out to the beach and into the sea.Creatively, the challenge was making sure we weren’t just writing the first album again. We’ve released so many singles and EPs over the years that we wanted to keep it exciting for ourselves. We’d hear something and think, “This sounds like something we’ve already done,” and then try to push it somewhere else. Finding out what “different” sounded like for us was probably the biggest challenge.
Q: Were there songs that initially sounded too much like your older material, but you were able to push in a different direction?
CORELLA: “Simple Life” is probably one. It was more similar to things we’d released in the past, but working with Jason changed it. We listened to a lot of music together during the process, and he helped move it away from being quite so indie-pop.There’s also “Wolf,” where Jason changed the drums entirely and gave it more of that Manchester drum feel. Sometimes it was really small details that sent a track down a completely different route.
Q: The production feels very clear and distinctive, especially at a time when so many records can sound overly polished or similar. Was keeping some rawness important to you?
CORELLA: That was a big part of the process. We wanted to keep it raw and honest and embrace things we might have been scared to do in the past. Before, you can get caught up wanting everything to be perfectly clean and polished. This time, we went the other way and embraced some of the chaos.We also recorded a lot of it live together. The album sounds different from what we’ve done before, and it sounds like the studio we made it in. That was a really important part of the process.
Q: What do you hope fans take away from The Beautiful World to Lose?
CORELLA: Hopefully they hear that we’re being honest. Maybe more than ever before, we’re telling stories about things we’ve actually been through, and people can relate to that. Some people will always prefer the older stuff, while other people are finding us through the new songs. We want people to stick with us because even when we get to a third album, we’ll probably switch things up again. We need to keep it interesting for ourselves and for the fans.At the end of the day, we’re four lads from the north of England who go through shit together like everybody else does. It’s honest songwriting, and hopefully that comes through in the lyrics and in the way we played the album.
Q: If you had to describe the album in three words to someone who has never heard Corella, what would they be?
CORELLA: Euphoric. Heavier. Raw.
Q: You’ve already released several singles and played some of the new material live. How have audiences reacted?
CORELLA: We started playing “Rewire” live well before we recorded it — probably about a year before. We played it in Belgium before we’d really got the wheels in motion for the second album, and it immediately felt good. We played “Lost a Friend” live quite a few times too.Because we’d already played those songs so much, they felt really solid when we went into the studio. We knew how to perform them together, and the audience reaction helped confirm that they belonged on the album.There have been moments with “Lost a Friend” where we’ve looked out and seen everyone putting their hands up together during the intro and immediately following the lead from the stage. That connection is really special. It’s also great when people come up after shows and tell us they like the new material, because then you know you’re doing something right.
Q: With the album arriving September 18 and live shows ahead, what are you most excited about?
CORELLA: Just getting out and playing live again. We’ve had some time off this summer, and we’re itching to get back out there. We come alive when we play live, and we’ve definitely gained fans through our live show.We’re in the rehearsal room now working out the live set, and it’s exciting to get the new songs into it. People will know a lot of them by then, but playing them live gives us the chance to really show what those songs are about.
Q: Are there any cities you’re particularly excited to play on the upcoming tour?
CORELLA: Manchester is always our favorite because it’s home. But going down to London is exciting too. There’s a real north-south divide in the UK industry, so going to London and having a great show can give you a real boost.We’re excited about the smaller places we haven’t been to as well. Every city has its own feel and the crowds are different wherever you go, so each show is exciting for a different reason.
Q: You’ve been together for more than a decade. What has changed most about the band dynamic since the early days?
CORELLA: In a lot of ways, the dynamic is the same — just elevated times ten. At the beginning, we probably didn’t really know what we were doing. We were writing music and playing shows. Over time, it became, “Oh, we’re actually doing this as a job. We’re colleagues.”We still keep it light and our relationships with each other are basically the same, but we take the band more seriously now. We spend so much time together that when the four of us do something that has nothing to do with music, sometimes it’s like, “What do we even talk about?”We don’t have massive band fallouts. We bicker about music and whether a part should go one way or another, but that’s pretty much it.
Q: Do you spend much time together outside of band work?
CORELLA: We go to the pub a lot together. We’re so immersed in music that even the things we do for fun often end up involving it. When we’re at festivals, we try to stay and enjoy the rest of the festival together and watch other bands. We’re constantly asking our agent for tickets to gigs. Then we’ll go watch a show, get into the rehearsal room the next day and take a bit of inspiration from it.
Q: For someone just discovering Corella, what would you want them to know about the band?
CORELLA: Have patience when you listen through all of our songs. It’s a journey, and art changes all the time. We’ve been together for more than ten years, and we’d drive ourselves crazy if we made the same thing over and over again.Take it in and listen to the lyrics, especially on this new album. And if you can make it to a show, come see us live. That’s where we really connect with people, and playing live is what we love doing.
Pre-order A Beautiful World To Lose: https://ffm.bio/corella-abeautifulworldtolose
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