A YEAR after Abergavenny singer-songwriter Matthew Jay fell to his death from a seven-storey building, his parents are still trying to discover what exactly happened.

The 24-year-old, who toured with top bands including the Stereophonics and Starsailor, was on the verge of rock stardom when he died in London on September 24 last year.

An inquest into his death, held by the coroner for the Northern District of London, in May, returned an open verdict, and the circumstances surrounding what happened remain a mystery.

Matthew's father Tony, of Elm Drive, Llanellen, told the Argus: "We expected an open verdict because there was no substantial evidence. I didn't see what else the coroner could do.

"The police are still investigating, but unfortunately things take a very long time. If they're doing tests, they go off to a lab and are put in a queue. We are going to be talking to them again soon."

He said he did not think it was in Matthew's nature to kill himself.

With the anniversary of his son's tragic death just two weeks away, Mr Jay said the family was releasing an album of some of Matthew's early recordings '...too soon' via the website they run - www.matthewjay.com

He said: "It's just something he had that we wanted to finish. There's also a lot more music that has never been fully produced, and we are hoping to do some fundraising from sales of this album to bring out a further album."

Speaking about the anniversary, Mr Jay said: "We just want to take our minds off it. We don't want to get preoccupied with it, it's just very difficult."

Mr Jay said that he, Matthew's mother, Hilary, and two brothers, Edward and Peter, were coping.

He said: "Everybody's been pretty strong, but you can imagine how difficult it's been."

Matthew began writing songs at the age of 15. His parents are both avid folk musicians and he had played in the family band.

A spokesman from Harrow Police said: "We are bound by the verdict of the coroner's court and the death, which has been investigated, is not being treated as a criminal matter."