The journey the former Catatonia singer has taken on her first solo album may surprise some fans of the Welsh band she left in the summer of 2001, after almost ten years, four successful albums and a string of hit singles that included ‘Road Rage’ and ‘Mulder & Scully.’ Yet ‘Cockahoop’ represents the most abundant expression yet of her passionate approach to life and music, her instinctive feel for a great song and the emotional warmth of her unique voice. <p> Produced by acclaimed Bob Dylan and Ryan Adams steel guitarist, Bucky Baxter and recorded in Whites Creek, Nashville, ‘Cockahoop’ is the album that we always hoped that Cerys Matthews would one day make. And there's no question that ‘Cockahoop’ is a radically different kind of album to anything we ever heard from Cerys with Catatonia. Where possible, the mostly acoustic instruments were recorded live to capture the spontaneity of seasoned musicians playing off each other. There are covers, handpicked and lovingly rendered to reflect her passion as a collector of songs ancient and modern. <p> The playing is as vivid and potent as you would expect from some of the finest musicians in the world. But mostly, it's a record that puts the spotlight on the songs and Cerys' voice, which has taken on a richer patina than we've ever heard from her before. There are traces of folk, country, soul and pop - and much else besides. ‘Cockahoop’ is all and none of them at the same time and its felicitous agility doesn't fit easily into any musical category.
