After an eight year gap between albums, the return of Damien Rice has been celebrated far and wide; My Favourite Faded Fantasy sits at the top of the album charts, while tickets for the 40 year old’s recent Dublin show sold out in seconds. It’s quite the comeback, after years of apparent inaction.
"I haven’t released anything,” Rice explains, “but I’ve written hundreds of songs. I keep dumping them. Perfectionist! Also because I never got a recording of many of the songs I was happy with – but the main reason is that I never finish most of them."
When it came to recording the latest record, Rice explored new avenues. Linking up with uber-producer Rick Rubin, he headed to Malibu, Iceland and Italy during the album’s creation. One old habit did arise, though, when he asked long-time collaborator – and former lover – Lisa Hannigan to contribute.
"How the fuck did I let that one slip out?" he laughs. "I didn’t know – I kind of felt time had passed, and Lisa and I were pals. I thought it’d be nice to clear the notion out, to know whether she felt it was a good idea."
Read more on the new record, going back to ‘school’ and why Rice doesn’t want a hit single, all in the new Hot Press, on shelves tomorrow.
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