The one-time Catatonia chanteuse returns with her sophomore effort; the results are happily as idiosyncratic and engaging as her personality. From the chamber pop soul searching of ‘Open Roads’, to the dreamy, hushed Welsh language waltz of ‘Elen’, ‘Never Said Goodbye’ excels in its eccentricity and sundry musical stylings. Debut release ‘Cockahoop’ was the sound of an accomplished writer finding her feet after the post-Britpop hangover that was the end of Catatonia.
Followers of her former band will find intrigue in Matthews’ latest work, but it should come as little surprise to learn there’s nothing as commercial as ‘Mulder & Scully’ here. Instead, her time spent in Nashville, Tennessee has given her writing a more countrified, and introspective feel. However, she hasn’t abandoned Brit-centric topics altogether. The disarming ‘The Endless Rain’ could be about a Saturday afternoon in Swansea. ‘Morning Sunshine’ is as joyful as its title suggests. ‘Seed Song’s leafy preoccupation with the four seasons is a wonderful, pastoral and philosophical look at the passing of time.
The near-Broadway kick horns of ‘Oxygen’ combine with her distinctive vocals, which range from a throaty Valley’s rasp to gentle coos - sometimes in the same line. It contrasts well with ‘Blue Light Alarm’s nursery rhyme-tinged plinky pianos, bowing bass and gentle strings, which are the calm centre of an otherwise eclectic record.
The yearning for finding a place to call your own, motherhood and the unending search for a happier state of mind are preoccupations of ‘Never Said Goodbye’. “I’m somewhere I don’t want to be,” she lilts on ‘Streets of New York’. If rumours are true that Matthews plans to return to Wales permanently, it will be a happy day for British music. Until then, Matthews search for peace of mind makes for fascinating, heart-warming and compulsive songwriting.
Rating: 4/5
Release date: 21 August 2006
Label: Rough Trade
Web: www.cerysmatthews.info
Words: Alex Donohue
