Damien Rice - 9 LP

if you ask me how i know you'd like to hear a little more from D to the A to the Mien and all of the Rice - i'll tell you, i know because i know. because i wanted to hear it too.

i was more interested to hear what happened after the gorgeous blow up that is "Me, My Yoke And I" (if you're not up to date, check our sampler post). and i have good news. it's okay, everyone. it's all going to be okay. we have a Blower's Daughter Part II (it's actually called "Grey Room," and it has nothing to do with the B-side). we have all the melancholy drippiness of O with sampler song "9 Crimes", but we have Volcano (Radio Edit) Part II (again, actually called "Accidental Babies" ...yeah, it really is) - and voila! we have Woman Like A Man Part II as well! and, you guessed it, it's really called "Rootless Tree," and it's deliciously profane.

i have to admit that i'm increasingly more impressed with the album as time goes on. i've explained before that i had quite a bit of trouble with O - it dragged me down. it drugged me. but 9? 9 is better. 9 i can handle. there are upbeats in almost every song, whether it's the acoustic strumming, or the actual drumset they decided to start employing - and upbeats i can handle. it's still raw, it's still emotional, it's still folk. it's just firming up a bit, getting a little disillusioned with the moody sappy blah (ah, my bias is shining through).

::::"the fav," as highschool cheerleaders and boppy twentysomethings say:
Damien Rice - Dogs

this song is different. it waivers somewhere in-between the heaviness of some songs - unbearable to me in their painfully emotional tone - and the ripping anger of others, which i actually tend to like a lot (let's not psychoanalyze that). it's very classically Damien Rice, and yet something about the addition of the snare - it's... it's really good.

PRE-ORDER THIS ALBUM. it is so absolutely gorgeous that all of you Damien Rice freaks will be ecstatic with it, and so happy with the outcome. i promise. i feel like he's really expanding on his repertoire, and the flow - the artwork - his voice - the LYRICS, always my favorite part - oh you'll love it. if you want to tell me, like some of those amazon reviewers, that you aren't ecstatic, and that you wish he'd stick to "his endearing debut," let me know. that's what the comments section is for.  shan  9:54 AM  |  view comments (0)