The band's leader Damon Albarn had been in a long-term relationship with Justine Frischmann, of the Britpop band Elastica. Their relationship was highly publicised, the couple being described by John Harris as "proto-Posh and Becks for the indie-rock constituency." However, their relationship became strained over time, stated reasons including Albarn's desire to have children as well as Frischmann's continued friendship with ex-boyfriend Brett Anderson of Suede, who had shared a musical rivalry with Albarn. Albarn's lyrics and attitude had reflected this in the eyes of the other band members, with Coxon pointing out, "I didn't have much of a clue that things were going wrong between Damon and Justine but it was probably easy to guess." After one last holiday together in Bali in late 1997 in an attempt to rekindle their relationship, the couple finally split. Albarn later commented, "That relationship just absolutely crashed. I mean, it really was a spectacularly sad end."