Damien
Rice
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| Damien
Rice - Woman Like A Man (released 17.03.03) Reviewed |
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According to the press release accompanying this single,
Damien Rice spent a year travelling around Europe to provide
inspiration before recording his first solo demo. He could
have saved himself a lot of time and money if he had just
bought Ryan Adams 'Heartbreaker' album. Although it is a
tribute to the quality of Rice's 'Woman Like A Man' EP that
he is not flattered by such a comparison.
'Woman Like A Man' is a passionate and unusually dynamic
acoustic song that is embellished by an almost menacing
cello sound and an additional female vocal. The lead track
owes a large debt to the dark intensity of PJ Harvey.
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With three additional tracks, Rice is generously harking back
to the glory days of a few years ago when singles always included
four tracks. In this case, it is not just serving to increase
the odds of getting a half-decent bonus song, because every
track is bursting with understated beauty. The two new bonus
songs 'Lonelily' and 'The Professor' are masterful, fragile
acoustic gems, which again carry strong overtones of Adams and
Joni Mitchell respectively.
'Delicate', the second track on the EP lives up to its name.
It is a 'Heartbreaker' style melancholic acoustic song with
an emotive vocal of heartfelt frailty. 'Delicate' is taken from
Rice's critically acclaimed debut album 'O' which has achieved
platinum sales in his native Ireland. Famously David Gray achieved
commercial success in Ireland before 'White Ladder' conquered
the world. On the evidence of this sublime EP, it would be surprising
if Rice didn't follow Gray's career trajectory.
Gavin Eves
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