Damien Rice

They say timing is everything. So it follows that sometimes it’s just as important to know when not to make a record as it I to know when to make one. Damien Rice knows something about that. Not least of all because if he had allowed himself the luxury of choice, he might have delayed the release of 9, his 2006 follow-up to O, his understated yet emotionally charged debut that elevated the ordinary frustrations of love, life and the future with gentle but eloquent profundity. But then he wasn’t sure how much time he needed. A year? Two? Just long enough that he could write more songs that felt right. Who can say now? When he looks back he remembers that O was recorded with patience and 9 with frustration. It felt imperative that before he could release another album, he needed to figure out a few things. Like why when he had everything a man could want, he still felt something was missing. “I’d reached what was called a high, playing the biggest venues I’d ever played. The money was rolling in, and everything was quote-unquote perfect, great. And everything sort of crumbled and fell apart at that moment. I became really unhappy, and so that went spiraling down, down, down, where I got to this place where I had everything I thought I wanted and I still wasn’t happy. That felt very, I guess, disheartening. So I kind of crashed. “If you’ve got a dream to chase or a target to aim for, it’s easier.