After nearly ten years, Catatonia, one of England's most popular bands, have called it quits. A statement from the band's record label called the split "amicable" and the band said, "We'd like to thank everybody who has supported us down the years, and given us a lot of great memories."

Catatonia formed in 1992 in Cardiff, Wales, where vocalist Cerys Matthews, guitarist/vocalist Mark Roberts, bassist Paul Jones, keyboardist Clancy Pegg, and drummer Dafydd Ieuan began creating Wales' most exportable brand of indie rock/pop. The band released their first EP For Tinkerbell in 1993 and their second, Hooked, in 1994. The band then went through several lineup changes, with guitarist Owen Powell and drummer Aled Richards replacing Pegg and Ieuan. Catatonia released their first full-length record, Way Beyond Blue, 1996, and followed it with 1998's International Velvet and 2000's Equally Cursed and Blessed.

Although, the band was revered in the U.K. -- and Matthews, in particular, emerged as the mediagenic darling of British music -- Catanoia never quite broke through in the U.S. The band's final album, this summer's Paper Scissors Stone, coincided with Matthews' stint in rehab for exhaustion, forcing the band to cancel festival and tour plans. Sales for the album did not measure up to the band's previous two efforts, and it has not yet been released in the U.S.

According to Catatonia's label, details of the band members' future plans are not yet known.

CHRISTINA SARACENO
(September 21, 2001)