Never Said Goodbye

The former singer with Catatonia, Cerys Matthews released her second solo album Never Said Goodbye on the Rough Trade label in 2006 with a backing band featuring Ben Elkins on keyboards, Jeremy Lutito on drums, and Kevin Teel and Jeff Irwin on guitars. Cerys Matthews had one of those voices that had been described as innocent and childlike, and even during her Catatonia days, there had always been the problem that people did not take her seriously. On this album the tracks moved slowly along, pleasant folky numbers with that distinctive voice, but by the end of track three, "Oxygen," she wanted to make sure nobody was falling asleep and begins to scream as if the element was in short supply during the recording. Sometimes however, the songs were just too slow, for example "Blue Light Alarm," which was a pleasant little trippy number and woke up almost near the end when the rest of the band joined her on a chanted chorus. "Morning Sunshine" had elements of the '60s Mamas & the Papas era and although the album was recorded in her new home of Nashville, she never forgot her Cardiff roots as the album ended with the ballad "Elen" sung in Welsh. ~ Sharon Mawer|