‘For Tinkerbell’ by Catatonia

One of those items that’s in my collection more or less by chance. I picked this up in Wales just as Catatonia were on the ascent in the rest of the UK. ‘For Tinkerbell’ was an early EP which I vaguely thought might turn into a collector’s item. It’s probably fair to say that that isn’t now the case.

In and of itself, it’s alright, in a ‘stretching your wings’ kind of way. ‘For Tinkberbell’ itself is a pleasant enough song, ‘New Mercurial Heights’ is a better one (though whether it’s good enough to sustain two versions within five tracks is debateable) and ‘Dimbran’ is also fine. All are a bit similar – a slightly murky backing track layered in jangly guitar, with Cerys Matthew’s voice providing the main point of interest. ‘Sweet Catatonia’ is the low point. The song itself is fine, but this version is slow to the point of tedium, lacking any energy that would make it worthwhile.

Three of these tracks would find their way onto Catatonia’s debut album, all re-recorded and improved, thus rendering this record entirely pointless. I guess you win some, you lose some.