Damien Rice's "O"

I bought a new album last week based on a pair of songs I heard a few times via my Yahoo Launchcast service. It was Damien Rice’s “O” and it’s one of the best discs I’ve bought in a long time. Damien Rice is an Irish musician with a really soft, yet masculine (and not heavily accented) voice and the skill to play a variety of instruments. He sings the lead vocal on most tracks, plays guitar, bass, clarinet, piano, and even some drums and percussion. If this list of instruments hasn’t tipped you off, the entire album is acoustic.

Damien isn’t alone of course. He gets help from a cello player named Vyvienne (I love the spelling) and female vocalist Lisa Hannigan, as well as a small army of others, although it’s these three and a drummer named Tomo who are the most prominent.

I say it’s good fall music because it’s the perfect album to listen to while relaxing on the couch during a cold rainy day. It’s rather slow, somewhat haunting, and emotional. Best of all, it’s really tight. The vocals and instruments never get in the way of one another and remain easily identifiable throughout each song. Also, after listening to it repeatedly each day for over a week, I can safely say that there’s only one song that I usually skip past. I won’t mention what it is, as some will no doubt love it, but I will say that it's one of the two were Damien seems to be M.I.A.

Regardless, stop by your favorite indie music store and pick this one up. Highly recommended.