This Mortal Coil was a project led by Ivo Watts-Russell, founder of the British record label 4AD. About half of the songs released were cover versions, often of 1960s and 1970s psychedelic and folk acts. On each of the band's three LPs, at least one song would also be a cover of a 4AD artist, and most of the original songs were instrumentals.
The name "This Mortal Coil" is taken from the Monty Python's Flying Circus
Dead Parrot sketch