recording demos for a new album

While Roberts sought to begin work on a second album, they began to tour with fellow Welsh band The Manic Street Preachers as a support act, and the label released the compilation Tourist EP in Japan. They began recording demos for a new album in Cardiff at the start of January 1997. The subject matter was mostly based on the stories coming out of Roberts and Matthews’ breakup. They booked in a recording session for the second album in June, at the Monnow Valley Studio in Rockfield, Monmouthshire . In the run up to the recording, they performed for the first time in the United States, supporting The Boo Radleys in New York. They went on to perform in Austin, Texas and in Los Angeles during March. The following month, they conducted a ten-night tour of the UK, in which songs such as ” Mulder and Scully ” made their first public appearances.