If the great god Poseidon made a record it could not be wetter than the puddly emanations of Irish good-for-nothing Damien Rice, a member of that lowest of all pop castes the singer-songwriter. Singer-songwriters need a gimmick, the simple truth being that a man, his soul and his guitar gets boring in an eye-blink. Paul Simon’s gimmick is that he is old; Cat Stevens is a Muslim; Nick Drake is dead and so on.
Damien Rice, a latecomer to this party (and imagine how bad a party must be that started with someone getting their acoustic guitar out) has a particularly irksome gimmick – he continually sounds as if he’s losing his voice. “Yes! Yes!” you sob in relief as his larynx sputters and peters during “Cannonball”, then time and again your hope is dashed as he makes it to the end of the song. Troubadours and minstrels used to be homeless buskers, driven from city to city (by baying mobs I hope) with the odd groat and a good bumming from Richard I being their only reward. Would that this were still so! (With Richard the Lionheart replaced by, oh, Richard Littlejohn maybe).
I suppose you would rather listen to a load of mass produced shite put out by rich arse holes with one ambition – to make money. The reason people like Damien Rice is because of the emotion he puts into his songs. The reason, as you so eloquently put, he sounds like he’s ‘loosing his voice’ is because he screams with raw passion and soul, which is a damn sight better than the monotonous robotic sounds produced by so many ‘radio friendly’ ‘artists’ that rely on auto tune.
The other reason people like Damien Rice is because he doesn’t want to slap his face all over posters and magazines. He is in it purely for the music, which is something I can’t say for many others in the business. Today people just seem to want the money and fame that goes with a poxy, run of the mill pop album. Half the really big names in the industry probably couldn’t write a half decent, meaningful song if their lives depended on it. They pay someone to do it for them, then pay someone to produce it, then pay someone to sell it, and use their image and public persona gain popularity and make more money.
The fact that Rice doesn’t buy into that gimmick is so refreshing for those who are loosing hope in music.
He doesn’t claim to be unique, or special. He doesn’t want to be a product of some big recording company wanting to mold him into something that will appeal to a ‘modern audience’ by stereotyping and labeling him.
That’s why people like him. And if you don’t, then frankly I’d be happy for you to stay on your side of the pond listening to the mediocre ‘artists’ that sadly people know and love.
Between Damien Rice and the deep blue sea…I’d take my chances with the sharks.
roryok.com/blog/2005/03/18/damien-rice/
It’s an old thread but pretty spot on, and hysterical to boot.