The Return of the Irish Troubadour

The Return of the Irish Troubadour

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

Eight years after his last album, Damien Rice breaks the silence with an emotionally fulfilling new record.

Damien Rice / My Favourite Faded Fantasy

The Irish singer-songwriter behind heart-wrenching anthems like The Blower’s Daughter, Cannonball, and 9 Crimes has returned after nearly a decade of barely any new materials since his 2006’s sophomore record, 9. But despite an eight-year hiatus, Rice’s songs remain firmly imprinted on the minds of the general public, thanks in part to those talent show contestants who love to channel their inner Damien Rice on their auditions. With that in mind, there’s no doubt that a lot of people will want to compare his latest outing, My Favourite Faded Fantasy, to his earlier work.

So how does this album stack up against O and 9? Well, for starters, Rice’s long-time collaborator Lisa Hannigan (who is now also his ex-girlfriend) is nowhere to be seen here. The Irish singer-songwriter, as it happens, is flying solo with help from new producer Rick Rubin, who has worked with everyone from Metallica and Red Hot Chili Peppers to Adele and Lady Gaga. However, apart from Hannigan’s AWOL status, everything else on My Favourite feels extremely familiar. And, yes, by “everything else” we mean the typical usual pairing of acoustic guitar and intense lyricism.

Right off the bat, Rice hits us with the six-minute title track where he croons in the unusually higher falsetto, “You could be my favourite taste/To touch my tongue/I know someone who could serve me love/But it wouldn’t fill me up”. The track then reaches a cathartic denouement during its final minute or so, and this would become the pattern employed throughout the record (it’s done to devastatingly great effect on Takes a Lot to Know a Man, a sprawling piano-versus-strings ballad that lasts almost 10 minutes).

Tracks like The Greatest Bastard and The Box are the closest things to what we previously heard on 9, whereas I Don’t Want to Change You is the catchiest offering. It’s also the album’s standout. “Cause I don’t want to change you, I don’t want to change your mind/I just came across a manger out among the danger/Somewhere in a stranger’s eye,” sings Rice over the tender guitar complete with sweeping orchestration.

With only eight songs on offer, we’re impressed how My Favourite Faded Fantasy comes across as a highly cohesive body of work. Given plenty of time and space to breathe and grow, each track drifts into the next without a hitch, carrying with them interconnected themes of personal turmoil and broken relationships. The music may follow a certain predictable pattern, but there’s more than enough beauty and complexity in both Rice’s vocals and songwriting to render it substantial.


The Playlist

Polycat / Pob Kan Mai (So Long)

Chiang Mai-based synthpop outfit Polycat is back after a two-year absence with not one but a series of three new singles. Following the first two “chapters,” Pob Kan Mai (So Long) is the final instalment, and perhaps the most outstanding of the three. As with their earlier materials, they’re keeping things pleasantly retro, deploying a handful of wistful synths alongside heartfelt lyrics (in this case, it’s about letting go of someone you love). This is pure nostalgia especially for those who were born in the ’80s.

AC/DC / Rock or Bust

After going through some rough patches, veteran Aussie rockers AC/DC power through with the lease of their 15th (16th in their home country) studio album, Rock or Bust. The brisk title track kicks off with the all-too-familiar hard-rock guitar complete with tried-and-tested power chords. As the title suggests, the lyrics pay homage to the spirit of rock ’n’ roll (“In rock we trust, it's rock or bust”), and everything you hear is quintessential AC/DC. So, if you’re a long-time fan of the group, you certainly won’t be disappointed.

Bonobo / Return To Air

Return To Air is the second cut by British DJ/producer Simon Green (aka Bonobo) from his latest EP Flashlight. A follow-up to Pelican, the five-minute track finds the brilliant British DJ/producer in his element, offering a masterful meld of electronic and ambient sounds punctuated with otherworldly vocal samples. According to Green, Return To Air marks “the last page of that chapter” before he gets cracking on his next LP. As much as we’re saddened by the news, we also can’t wait to see what other musical ingenuity he’s got planned for us.

Future Islands / Seasons (Waiting On You) (BadBadNotGood Reinterpretation)

With their fresh approach to music, Toronto-based experimental pop outfit BadBadNotGood is one of our favourite new bands to have emerged from a couple of years ago. Here, the trio come forward to put their inventive spin on Future Islands’ indie gem Seasons (Waiting On You), turning it into quite a sophisticated tune. Sam T Herring’s vocals, thankfully left untampered with, go smoothly with the jazzy, slightly dramatic backdrop courtesy of BBNG. It’s amazing how the end result is so different from the original, but at the same time still feels reverent.

Clean Bandit (featuring Jess Glynne) / Real Love

By now you may already be well familiar with Rather Be, Clean Bandit’s addictive dance smash featuring vocalist Jess Glynne. Now, both parties have joined forces once again on Real Love, another classical-electronic crossover cut included on the band’s reissue of their debut album, New Eyes. As much as it is catchy, the track doesn’t stray too far away from all the elements that made Rather Be a hit. In fact, this could easily be its sequel with the similar doses of violin, synths and piano chords.

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