Damien Rice - Woman Like A Man

Damien Rice swears a lot. Not that I mind. I like it when Rice sings ‘ you wanna get burned, you wanna get turned, you wanna get fucked inside out’. It adds an urgency of meaning that only profanity can express and I suspect that live, this excites and woos an audience. This fire-fuelled lyrical tirade begins the chorus to the title track of Rice’s second single, Woman like a Man. I’ve never heard a bloke sound like Tori Amos before, but Rice does, his inflections jumpy and stalling, then lingering longingly. But the chorus, despite the lyrics, moves in a direction akin to chirpy American spun folk, bringing to mind early Don McLean.

Delicate is more straightforward beauty tune, simple, polite and nice. Effectively sparse, it speaks of being alone. The vocals in Lonelily are more up front and bassy. Again, an undemanding song, sweetly delivered. But I’m yearning for the unexpected hinted at by the initial track's opening. Rice veers off into more charted waters with Lonelily; thoughtful verse, big impassioned chorus, and it’s pretty, sweet, but not very exciting. The final track, Professor speaks even more loudly of early 70s American folk, but it’s a rich tradition, and this song is more developed and mature. The guitar playing is accomplished, and rich lyrics (with the ubiquitous swearing) are sung with a passion.

Rice very quietly excites. His voice is good and songwriting sometimes mature. However, his derivative style holds him back, and while it’s nice, occasionally, to hear strains of other artistes like Don McLean and Melanie seeping into modern acoustic music, the reference to Tim (or Jeff) Buckley in the title track is just too much. He may have the talent to produce original sounds - certainly his guitar playing is exemplary - but he needs to breaks the shackles of his musical influences and reach further into himself for inspiration.

Claire Colley
17th March 2003

http://www.musicomh.com/singles/damien-rice.htm