O

by Damien Rice

Overview

Magnificently packaged in a CD-sized hardcover book filled with personal artwork, lyrics, and photos, Damien Rice's debut full-length, O, is nothing less than a work of genius, a perfect cross between Ryan Adams and David Gray and a true contender for one of the best albums of 2003. This Irish singer/songwriter works with impassioned folk songs that move from stripped-down to grandly orchestrated in a heartbeat. The production is reminiscent of Songs of Leonard Cohen -- simple guitars, vocals, and then those swelling strings, all of which sound like they were recorded right in the same room. Rice is master of what critic/ranter Richard Meltzer called "the unknown tongue" -- basically the musical equivalent of the "punctum" in photos, it's that thing that grabs a hold of you, the detail that makes it happen. For example, on "Delicate" the strings lift the spare folk song to the heavens at just the moment that makes the song soar -- Meltzer might call it the "folk tongue" or maybe even the "epic tongue." The magnificent, melancholy, optimistic, longing, almost magical "The Blower's Daughter" comes in immediately as the previous song, "Volcano," ends -- same thing with the song that follows -- which gives the album a broad, operatic quality. The gentle "Cannonball," the bright strumming and surreal feedback on "Amie," the distant piano and oceanic harmonies (not to mention drowning, backwards vocals) on the duet, "Cold Water" -- the entire record makes the empty highway less lonely, the sunshine a little warmer, and life a little more poetic. Then there's the actual opera singer doing backup vocal duties on "Eskimo" -- a song of redemption that is Syd Barrett, is Skip Spence, is Grandaddy and is Mercury Rev and everything that implies. What a metaphor for Rice's entire hopelessly beautiful record -- one long angelic hymn for an insane world with the intimacy of a friend playing guitar in your living room and the grandeur of Sigur Ros. ~ Charles Spano

Product Details

Release Date:	06/08/2018
Label:	Rhino / Wea
UPC:	0190295740191
Rank:	100028

Tracks

Disc 1

1. Delicate
2. Volcano
3. The Blower's Daughter
4. Cannonball
5. Older Chests
6. Amie
7. Cheers Darlin'
8. Cold Water

Disc 2

9. I Remember
10. Eskimo
11. Prague
12. Silent Night
13. The Professor & La Fille Danse
14. Lonelily
15. Woman Like a Man [Live Radio Session]
16. Moody Mooday

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Damien Rice   Primary Artist,Percussion,Lead Vocals,Guitar (Bass),Bass,Drums,Piano,Guitar,Vocals,Clarinet
Shane Fitzsimons   Bass,Guitar (Bass)
Vyvienne Long   Cello
Mark Kelly   Guitar (Electric)
Lisa Hannigan   Vocals,Lead Vocals,Featured Artist
Caz   Djembe
Doreen Curran   Vocals,Soprano (Vocal)
Jean Meunier   Piano
Colm Mac Con Iomaire   Violin
Conor Donovan   Timpani,Percussion
Nicholas Dodd   Conductor
Tomo   Drums,Percussion

Technical Credits

Damien Rice   Composer,Paintings,Performer,Recording,Photography,Audio Engineer,Mixing Engineer,Mixing,Drawing,Engineer,Producer
Paul "P-Dub" Walton   Engineer,Producer
Traditional   Composer
Steve Orchard   Engineer,Recording,Audio Engineer
Paul Noonan   Composer
Franz Gruber   Composer
Mark "Spike" Stent   Engineer,Producer
David Arnold   Arranger,Producer,String Arrangements
Natascha   Photography
Brian Crosby   Composer
Robyn Robins   Mastering,Mastering Engineer
Lisa   Drawing,Paintings
Karl Toomey   Artwork
David Geraghty   Composer
Kristiina Aittokallio   Translation
Melissa Ni Chionnaith   Cover Design
Dominic Philips   Composer
Jean Meunier   Improvisation
Lisa Hannigan   Arranger,Composer,Assistant
Nicholas Dodd   Performer,Orchestration,Orchestral Arrangements