I want this album

...but I can't find any information on a North American release.

Cerys Matthews was the frontwoman for one of my favourite bands ever, Catatonia, which broke up in 2001 shortly after the release of their fourth album, Paper Scissors Stone. (It was probably for the best; I think they hit a pinnacle with Paper Scissors Stone and if they were still around today, they'd be burned out or ridiculously excessive.)

Matthews has a distinct voice -- girly and raspy -- and I love how over the course of Catatonia's four albums it becomes increasingly demented and affected. Bjork is the closest comparison I can think of, but whereas Bjork's voice is a little girl that swings upsidedown from the monkey bars and doesn't care that her underpants are showing, Matthews' voice sits in the sandbox and plays with matches.

The story is that after Catatonia split up Matthews went into rehab, moved to Nashville, got married and had a baby. She also put out an excellent solo debut, Cockahoop. Now she's back in the UK and this sophomore effort, Never Said Goodbye, is only available on Amazon.ca as an import. Boo.

Official Cerys Matthews website
Cerys Matthews on MySpace
Cerys Matthews on Wikipedia