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World Exclusive - Review of "9"
And so it is. A second Damien Rice album.
The most eagerly anticipated album of the year opens with hushed, delicate vocals from Lisa Hannigan set against a soft piano background. By the time that Damien joins in, the gentle rhythm of “9 Crimes” has been established. The lyrics are self-loathing, “Leave me out with the waste / This is not what I do / It’s the wrong kind of place / To be cheating on you”. Soon their voices are overlapping, lulling the listener into a gentle hypnosis. This is almost anaesthesia for the heartache to come, not just in this song but also at various points throughout the album. It’s worth emphasising here that this album, like “O”, was self-produced. Damien doesn’t hide anything on this record. Waves of passion and pain are clearly audible in his vocals. “9 Crimes” builds to a crescendo of hurt, and then quietly returns to the sorrowful repose of the piano.
“The Animals Were Gone” is one of the finest songs that Damien has ever written. Reminiscent at times of Jacquel Brel, in both tone and romantic lyricism, Damien sings to his love, “Waking up without you is like drinking from an empty cup”. Lisa’s backing vocals add a lovely charm to a bewitching chorus that surely has great potential for commercial success as a single. However, it’s the strings that elevate this love song to somewhere else. The ethereal finale of strings segueing into dazzling distorted chant-like vocals is one of the highpoints of the record.
The third track, “Elephant”, is Damien Rice at his most raw. Formerly know as “The Blower’s Daughter Part 2”, this track features delicate, pained vocals over gentle strumming. At the most poignant and acute moments, Vyvienne Long’s cello arrives to ease the heartache. Anger is present in Damien’s voice, and in lyrics such as “I take it I’m your crutch”. Another soaring climax returns to the quiet strumming. The final words are almost whispered. “This has got to die / This has got to stop.” You can hear every intake of breath. The songs ends with a last strike of pain, as in “The Blower’s Daughter”, but even more pronounced.
And then the pain turns to rage on “Rootless Tree”. A pleasant opening of acoustic guitar accompanying Damien’s singing is contrasted with an arresting, violent chorus, featuring lines such as “Fuck you, fuck you, fuck you and all we’ve been through”. Again, Lisa’s vocals and Vyvienne’s cello add texture, particularly with the refrain of “let me out, let me out…” This is a giant song that really grabs your attention. It doesn’t sound like anything from “O”. The entire band shines, pulling together to keep the Rootless Tree from falling over.
The next track, “Dogs”, shows a lighter side of Damien’s music. All the more so as it follows two much heavier tracks. It is an almost dream-like observation of a sunny morning spent with the subject of the song, “the girl that does yoga”. “She lives with an orange tree / The girl that does yoga / She picks the dead ones from the ground / When we come over.” It’s a gorgeous foot-tapping song, but of course it wouldn’t be a Damien Rice without a hint of sadness towards the end. Lisa’s backing vocals are quiet, as in most of the songs on “9”, but they always add warmth and colour and a sense of reverie.
“Coconut Skins” is a simple song, but a standout track on the album. Rousing acoustic guitars and defiant vocals from Damien make this song seem like a 60s protest song. It is made especially compelling by its steady, driving rhythm, almost like a steam locomotive approaching. It sounds like a celebration of free spirit, both lyrically and musically, in the face of human complications and the fact that “Time is contagious / Everybody’s getting old”. Lisa, sounding like Joan Baez, gels perfectly with Damien in a lively chorus of “la la la la la laaaa…”
While the previous song may sound like a 60s folk song, “Me, My Yoke And I” is Damien’s loudest rock song. A live favourite for years now, it is full of heavy guitars, bass, drums and distorted vocals. It builds slowly and steadily into an angry and raucous wave of energy, and then the song quietens down, and the album quietens down for the final three tracks.
The first of these, “Grey Room”, is the closest thing on “9” to “O”. It is a sad and reflective song, with Damien asking, “Have I still got you to keep me warm?” Vyvienne’s cello comes again to lighten the dark bits. And then the mood lifts a little bit, and Damien’s vocals soar as he sings, “Nothing is lost, it’s just frozen in frost”. The grey room seems to lighten as Damien and Lisa repeat “Warmer than warm” at the end.
On “The Animals Were Gone”, Damien sang of having “babies and accidental songs”. The penultimate track on the album is “Accidental Babies”, an intimate Leonard Cohen style song in which Damien sings “Well you held me like a lover / Sweaty hands / And my foot in the appropriate place”. This intimacy is emphasised by the fact that Damien is simply accompanied by piano for the duration of the song. The heartache in this song is given its clearest expression in the final words, barely spoken, “What about me?”
The album’s final song is “Sleep Don’t Weep”, a lullaby that helps to heal the wounds on display in earlier tracks. Damien sings, “Do what you must do to fill that hole / Wear another shoe to comfort the soul”. Everything on this song is as quiet as you can imagine, vocals from Damien and Lisa, piano, guitar, strings, and percussion. The album ends, as it began, with Lisa singing. However, the healing continues after this track, with no less than sixteen minutes of soothing sounds from a Tibetan singing bowl, a mysterious instrument with alleged healing powers that doesn’t seem out of place after the emotional anguish that was revealed throughout “9”.
“9” is an amazing album that surpasses expectations and reminds us of why “O” became such a worldwide success. Damien performs with all the intensity and honesty that we have come to expect, but he paints his songs with more colours than on “O”, and smudges them just a little bit with tears. “9” has even more potential than “O” for commercial success, if it’s so desired, but it is a very personal album that will touch the heart of every listener.
21 October 2006
