Damien Rice - O (Review: Elliott)

I'd always thought that Damien Rice was one of those artists that Mothers listen to whilst cooking dinner for the family - a bit of background music. Having been introduced to the likes of "Jeff Buckley", "City and Colour" and "Get Cape Wear Cape Fly" I've started to have a lot of time for music that I previously wouldn't have considered listening to. Slow, melodic music coupled with a pleasant voice can be incredibly soothing and I've found that I can listen to these kinds of albums regardless of the mood I'm in.

The album opens with "Delicate", a very simple song. The title describes this song perfectly and sets the tone for what's to come."Volcano" introduces a female singer who appears on quite a few songs on the album. Something about her voice is very similar to "Regina Spektor's" and it fits the track perfectly. The violins on "The Blower's Daughter" work perfectly and the power of Rice's voice followed by the choir at around 3:30 is one of my favourite moments on the album - along with the climatic part around 3:15 into "I Remember".

There is something about Damien Rice's voice that I love. It sounds effortless and raspy but these are the reasons that I love it. The album doesn't sound overproduced and it doesn't suffer from a vocalist attempting to show-off their vocal range. It's easy to listen to and it seems to satisfy any mood. I can't think of a single fault with this album. I want to be able to say that it lacks a "happier, more upbeat" song but I know that's exactly what I don't want to hear from Damien Rice.

I'm happy that this album has completely disproved any preconceptions I'd had of Damien Rice.

5/5