We were the first UK music magazine to write about this formidable Irish singer/songwriter, many months before his first album O became public knowledge over here. Our album review left us in no doubt that he could be as popular as David Gray (who we also reviewed many months before the UK media caught on after finding out about him in Ireland), and so we hot-footed it over to Dublin to catch his Witnness Festival performance. The show confirmed to us that Damien Rice was one of the most important singer/songwriters to emerge in recent years. When he finally trod the boards in the UK we caught up with him again when he supported Kathryn Williams at the Liverpool Philharmonic, where he stole the show. That evening he stood by his merch stand in the foyer to sign albums and chat to punters. My associate still has the album he drew a strange little picture on – I wonder how much that is worth now… Rice’s second album has been slow in arriving, but given his almost continuous worldwide tour schedule (and in the process his conquest of the challenging USA market) it’s hardly surprising. It was worth the wait…

9 is a more introspective, darker, more complex album that takes a few listens to fully appreciate its beauty and quality. The end result is an album with greater emotional intensity and one which gradually draws the listener in even more so than O. The powerful melodies remain intact as does the supporting cast of players including Lisa Hannigan on vocals (given more prominence here), and Vyvienne Long on cello. The team also includes Tom Osarder on drums and percussion (and wine glasses!), together with guests on electric guitar and violin. 9 Crimes opens the proceedings with low register, wandering piano notes and Hannigan with the most delicate, child-like vocal. Rice ultimately joins with a response style vocal in what is effectively one the most moving duets you’ll ever hear. Enter a crescendo of strings that creates the most dramatic musical ambience before that piano returns to end the song. The Animals Were Gone follows, one of the songs played so devastatingly well on a recent Later TV show. It’s a wistful paean to love; its trials and tribulations; which lodges firmly in the memory – the sort of song that you’ll find yourself reprising on a crammed tube train. The final orchestral fling and angelic vocal chorus is nothing short of magical, the whole deeply moving. Elephant lifts the emotional stakes even higher with Rice’s most expressive and powerful vocal on the record. Backed by a single acoustic guitar and the most subtle of backing vocals from Hannigan during the first half of the song, it is stunning in its emotional intensity. During the second half that expected sonic crescendo arrives to top off one the album’s superb highlights. Rootless Tree opens in the most ‘conventional’ manner before the vocal and instrumental assault begins to blow me totally away. It’s an angry, rocky stampede (with lyrics to match: “Fuck you, fuck you, fuck you, leave it, leave it, leave it, hear me out, hear me out, hear me out, let me out, let me out, let me out…) that leaves one breathless… The mind and soul fuck continues with more sedate folk of Dogs and Coconut Skins before the musical Tsunami continues with the astounding Me, My Yoke + I. The Grey Room is like the subsequent subsiding wave with percussion, cello and violin providing just a hint of drama behind a more contemplative but focused Rice vocal.

9 is an uncompromising folk-rock record where any inhibitions are thrown aside, and one which leaves an indelible mark on the listener. I’m reminded of the emotional intensity of fellow Irishman Glen Hansard’s recent solo album which for many months has lead our list of ‘best albums of 2006.’ It’s now looking like we’ll have a joint winner this year, one of the best release years ever. In my view 9 slaughters O and believe me that’s an astounding musical achievement.

5/5