Stereophonics - Maybe Tomorrow

When V2 Records shuttered as a new music outpost, among the bands left homeless was Welsh rock trio Stereophonics. Despite only pocketing one UK number 1 single ("Dakota"), they've released a steady stream of top-shelf singles and even have two albums among the UK's Top 100 all-time best sellers...but alas, so do the Spice Girls.

Stereophonics' biggest moment stateside, aside from opening a cache of dates on U2's Vertigo tour was this track, "Maybe Tomorrow," playing over the credits of Oscar-winner Crash. It's however, criminal, that this sparkling single (and frankly, this band) didn't have more than that one shining moment.

As with every Stereophonics track, so much of the heft is carried by singer Kelly Jones' bourbon-soaked vocals. His gravelly tone is so pivotal to carrying off the record, it's truly an instrument in itself. Kelly's voice paints a battered, world-weary contrast to the faint sunshine through the stained glass optimism of the gospel-inflected instrumentation and backing vocals. The entire 4½ minutes works so cohesively from the lyrics to the music to the backing vocals to Kelly's yearning lead vocal that you have to wonder if, for all their output, this wasn't the song Stereophonics existed to record.

Not only their finest work, but perhaps one of the finest recordings of this entire decade.