"This is the year of the break up". Those are the words of CBC Radio 3 host Craig Norris, who I had a rare chance to hang out with this weekend while at See Vous Play.

Craig was referring to recent announcements from Death From Above 1979, The Deadly Snakes, Rheostatics, and the "hiatus" news from Broken Social Scene. Sadly, for all Canadian music fans, the statement continues to ring true.

As CBC Radio 3 reported earlier today, lead singer Nirmala Basnayake has decided to leave the Toronto disco dance punk favourites controller.controller. For a band that has been together a relatively short time, they achieved much, including widespread early acclaim, tours with the Cult, Death From Above 1979, and the Organ, and two stand-out releases on Paper Bag Records ("History" and "X-Amounts").

The always pleasant and approachable Nirmala Basnayake very kindly made herself available to talk with me about her departure from controller.controller while walking through downtown Toronto today.