Paper Scissors Stone by Catatonia

Paper Scissors Stone was the fourth and final album by Welsh band Catatonia. It was released on 6 August 2001 in the UK, and reached #6 on the UK album chart. The album only had one single taken from it, "Stone by Stone" – the group's final single release. Fittingly, the ending of the video for the song features the band members all abandoning their instruments and walking away. The band had announced on their website that the next single was to be the rocky "Is Everybody Here On Drugs", although the announcement was quickly removed once it was clear that Catatonia had reached the end of the road. The band were unable to promote the album, albeit with the exception of an appearance on Later...with Jools Holland and a few performances of "Stone by Stone", as Cerys Matthews was being treated for alcohol and smoking problems. The album's cover and in-sleeve photos were taken from the film, Tiger Bay, which starred Hayley Mills. Hayley was given a thank-you in the album. The album was dedicated to close friend and roadie Barry Cawley, who was killed in a road accident on his bicycle in Betws-y-Coed, North Wales in July 2000. The track, "Imaginary Friend", was written about him. The album title refers to the game rock paper scissors. in 2006, Iain Forrester of Stylus Magazine said the album "certainly doesn’t deserve any of the hatred it received in the press at the time. It has a fire to match their debut and a much wider musical scope, taking in the string-laden melodrama of 'Godspeed' (which certainly suits Cerys Matthews’ bellowing vocals) and flirtations with dance on 'What It Is,' as well as rock blasts like 'Immediate Circle'."