Taken from his superb 9 album, ROOTLESS TREE is the latest single from Irish singer/songwriter Damien Rice. In the three years since his critically acclaimed and worldwide smash debut album O first surfaced, Rice has spent his time playing sold out world wide shows and wowing audiences with his heartbroken tales of love and loss.
With its anthemic chorus and seething angst, ROOTLESS TREE is at once, both 9's most radio friendly moment and also its most abrasive; if O was the soundtrack to heartbroken angst, this is most definitely the sound of defiance and break up. As things climax in an explosion of raging guitars and screaming vocals, its clear that Rice means business this time round.
Taken from a record that finds Damien Rice delivering a more ambitious and bold set of songs this time round and expanding his repertoire, pushing things that extra mile; ROOTLESS TREE finds Damien Rice still on compelling and sublime form.

BIOGRAPHY

One of Damien Rice’s strengths is his ability to create that feeling of intimacy in a room utterly full of listeners. His performances are at once serious and informal and unpretentious.
Born in Dublin, Rice first encountered his muse as a teenager. ‘The time the music came into my life was when my elder sister had a boyfriend who played guitar. I picked up the guitar at that time, and once I had something to play while I was singing, it just never stopped.’
Rice became the lead singer of Juniper. The band signed with PolyGram, but Juniper’s music wasn’t exactly his thing, so he left the band and spent eight months bussing around Europe, eventually returning to Ireland to start gigging in his own right.
David Arnold offered the use of AIR Studios in London, but in his characteristic single-mindedness, Rice chose to record in his bedroom instead. The results are exactly what one hears on O.
At nearly double-Platinum status in his native Ireland, Rice has received three nominations in the 2003 Meteor Ireland Music Awards. In the UK, critics heaped praised on the album and this year Rice has sold out the Union Chapel and Shepherds Bush Empire. Since well before the US release of O, Rice has been selling-out shows at prestigious venues across the States.
Rice is deliberate about his art, and it’s increasingly rewarding. Still, he maintains a commitment to spontaneity, improvisation and living in the moment. Each show is different from the last, and he never plays a song the same way twice. “The crowds are coming and that’s exciting,” he says. “On the other hand, it creates a bigger expectation to deliver something, and a bigger challenge not to think about delivering anything.”

LINE UP

Damien Rice
Lisa Hannigan
Tom Osander
Vyvienne Long
Shane Fitzsimons
Joel Shearer
Cora Venus Lunny

DISCOGRAPHY

O (14th Floor Records>2003)
Delicate
Volcano
The Blower's Daughter
Cannonball
Older Chests
Amie
Cheers Darlin'
Cold Water
I Remember
Eskimo

WOMAN LIKE A MAN (14th Floor Records>2003)
Woman Like a Man
Delicate
Lonelily
The Professor & Le Fille Danse

9 CRIMES (14th Floor Records>2006)
9 Crimes
The Rat Within the Grain

UNPLAYED PIANO (WITH LISA HANNIGAN) (14th Floor Records>2005)
Unplayed Piano (Chris Lord-Alge Mix)
Unplayed Piano (instrumental)

9 (14th Floor Records>2006)
9 Crimes
The Animals Were Gone
Elephant
Rootless Tree
Dogs
Coconut Skins
Me, My Yoke And I
Grey Room
Accidental Babies
Sleep Don't Weep

ROOTLESS TREE (14th Floor Records>2007)
Rootless Tree

LINKS

14th Floor Records>www.14thfloorrecords.com

FURTHER LISTENING

Elliott Smith
Nerina Pallot
Paul Simon