'9’is heart wrenching second album from the best export to come out of Dublin recently, Damien Rice.
Its melancholy tone is held back from becoming cut-your-wrists miserable through the stunning delicacy of Rice’s song writing talent.
Opener '9 Crimes’ is the haunting first single off the album, featuring the mesmerising vocals of Rice’s backing singer Lisa Hannigan. A tale of shattered love, it sets the tone for the subsequent nine tracks beautifully.
'The Animals Were Gone’ has some quality lyrics, drawing out that true love means you love someone’s flaws as well as their perfections. I think most of us have had that inner debate once or twice in the past.
'Elephant’ showcases Rice’s slightly shakily perfect voice with the most minimal of accompaniment, demonstrating the power of emotion he can construe with a simple vocal before building into one of the most powerful crescendos I have heard from a solo artist in long while.
One of the harsher songs on '9’, 'Rootless Tree’ allows Rice to get angry, its chorus contains the lyrics 'Fuck You/Fuck You/Fuck You/And all that you do,'.
'Coconut Skins’ is based around a fantastically simple guitar riff and is punctuated by Hannigan’s vocals again, complementing Rice in a way he could not possibly have wished for. The song was introduced recently at a live gig as 'a song about, well, not giving a shit'. Nice one Dame.
The rest of the album, comprising the pessimist’s anthem 'Grey Room’, 'Accidental Babies’ and 'Sleep Don’t Weep’ round things off nicely.
Overall this is a superb second album, and sticking two fingers up to those who thought that Damien Rice was going to be a crash and burn one album wonder. I think he could be around for a long time coming, and deservedly so, the lovely little hippy that he is.
Its melancholy tone is held back from becoming cut-your-wrists miserable through the stunning delicacy of Rice’s song writing talent.
Opener '9 Crimes’ is the haunting first single off the album, featuring the mesmerising vocals of Rice’s backing singer Lisa Hannigan. A tale of shattered love, it sets the tone for the subsequent nine tracks beautifully.
'The Animals Were Gone’ has some quality lyrics, drawing out that true love means you love someone’s flaws as well as their perfections. I think most of us have had that inner debate once or twice in the past.
'Elephant’ showcases Rice’s slightly shakily perfect voice with the most minimal of accompaniment, demonstrating the power of emotion he can construe with a simple vocal before building into one of the most powerful crescendos I have heard from a solo artist in long while.
One of the harsher songs on '9’, 'Rootless Tree’ allows Rice to get angry, its chorus contains the lyrics 'Fuck You/Fuck You/Fuck You/And all that you do,'.
'Coconut Skins’ is based around a fantastically simple guitar riff and is punctuated by Hannigan’s vocals again, complementing Rice in a way he could not possibly have wished for. The song was introduced recently at a live gig as 'a song about, well, not giving a shit'. Nice one Dame.
The rest of the album, comprising the pessimist’s anthem 'Grey Room’, 'Accidental Babies’ and 'Sleep Don’t Weep’ round things off nicely.
Overall this is a superb second album, and sticking two fingers up to those who thought that Damien Rice was going to be a crash and burn one album wonder. I think he could be around for a long time coming, and deservedly so, the lovely little hippy that he is.
