Last updated: 18 November 2008
Signed to EMI, Matthew Jay had attracted some major radio support for his debut album.
Jay grew up in Abergavenny in South Wales, although he moved to Nottingham as his career began to take off. He was brought up in a family of musicians, and was inspired by his parents' Beatles, Stones and Led Zeppelin records.
He signed a recording deal with Food Records before playing his first gig, on the strength of a collection of self-penned songs recorded in his bedroom. Many of these songs appeared on Jay's debut album, Draw, which was released in March 2001.
While critically acclaimed, Jay never found the commercial success many felt he deserved, although he supported a number of more established artists including Stereophonics, Dido and Starsailor. Towards the end of 2002 he parted company with his record company, and began working on new material.
Tragically, Jay died on 24 September 2003 after falling seven storeys from the window of a North London flat. He was 24 years old. His parents issued a statement saying: "It is understood that there was nobody with him in the room at the time and no note was left.
"His family loved him dearly, admired him greatly and wish Matthew and all who loved him peace and tranquility. Matthew lived and died for his music. We hope that his music will live on and help fill the terrible void left in all those who loved him."
In May 2008 we received the following amendment from Matthew's mother Hilary Jay:
"Matthew was not alone in the flat the night he fell; there was a young woman present who lived there. Matthew's own flat was in another part of North London, and he was visiting her. There may have been others present, but we were unable to establish this. However, three drinking glasses were removed by forensic investigators that night. One had the young woman's finger prints, one had Matthew's and the other prints were unidentified.
"We tried in vain for two years to get the police to investigate the case, without success. They would not spend the time or money to establish whose finger prints were on the third glass. There were no drugs and only half a glass of wine in Matthew's body when he died."
An inquest into Jay's death returned an open verdict.
In June 2008 a new album, Further Than Tomorrow, was scheduled for release. The recordings were based on original demos recorded by Matthew before his death, with extra parts recorded live in the studio with a full band.
