Meet the muppets on first listen - but it gets better
I wasn't overtly familiar with Catatonia's output when I bought this cd - had just read a few reviews in music mags. So on first listen all I could hear was a v. spooky vocal - Cerys does sound a bit like a female muppet! I'm not talking Miss Piggy - more like Janice (it was Janice wasn't it? the muppet with the great big lube-a-lips - she featured as a nurse and I think played keys and did back-voc for the Muppet Band)! Anyways, repeated listens did soften the vocal sound... And Cerys does have a good ear for a well-turned lyric - her cover choices "Weightless Again" and "Chardonnay" are lyrically superb! I have never seen the flick "Deliverance" - but based on the reviews I have read, I imagine the instrumentation on "Cockahoop" must emulate the soundtrack to this film - characters with names like "Uncle Dad" and "Billy Bob" makin' for a sonic hoedown!
I just wish the album was a bit longer. I have to admit I like short albums best, anything clocking in under 45 mins is a bonus to my mind - but "Cockahoop" at, from memory, 34 or so mins is just a bit too brief! Partic as some of the tracks feel a bit sketchy - the album is a bit demo-ish in parts and I wonder if the sounds needed a bit more cooking in the studio to flesh it all out a bit more.
Also, what's with the ugly cover art!?! I'm not saying Cerys needs to rope in Nick Knight or Steven Meisel and go the art-damaged route, but lordy the cover is way stinky!
Lovely Solo Debut
As a huge Catatonia fan (Cerys Matthews' first band) I was expecting to be disappointed by her solo effort. Instead, I was more than pleasantly surprised by this beautiful album. While in Catatonia, Miss Matthews seemed to often try to be something that she wasn't, pushing too hard for a brash Brit-Pop label. On "Cockahoop", Matthews has found a comfortable place to make her bed. Her warm and lilting voice wraps around the country/rock/folk songs with charming ability. Gone are the grating, fire-eaten songs spat out with venom. One definatly gets the feeling that Matthews was never really comfortable in her role of rock goddess.
Not that there is any lack of rock on this album. It's there (try Gypsy Song) simply toned down, swung out, and something that Catatonia never could acheive- Comfortable. However Matthews shows that her strength lies in her softer ballads that the listener can fall in love with on the first chord. Examples of these love-at-first sights are All My Trials, the enchanting Arglwydd Dyma Fi, and strangely enough, the 45 second blip of a tune called La Bague.
Catatonia fans will NOT want to miss this jewel. Hopefully Matthews will be able to coax some American fans as well into
this fine album. Fans of Norah Jones, Vanessa Carlton, and similar artists would do well to give this a listen. It is sure to delight.
'Cockahoop' is the debut solo album by the former Catatonia frontwoman, Cerys Matthews. Recorded in Nashville with help from various names in the alt. country scene, the album contains a cover version of The Handsome Family's 'Weightless Again'. Also featured is the single, 'Only A Fool'. Blanco Y Negro. 2003.
The Former Lead Singer of Catatonia Returns all Cleaned Up in a Fresh Suit with her First Solo Album Since the Breakup of her Longtime Band. Production Chores were Handled by Ryan Adam's Steel Guitarist Bucky Baxter who Brings Out the Best in Matthews and Lets her Stretch Out Musically Shine on Material that She Never Got a Chance to Explore in the Band Context.
