Print Edition: November 19, 2014
Damien Rice
My Favourite Faded Fantasy
Irish singer-songwriter Damien Rice’s third studio record reminds me of crisp fall and winter days: calm, relaxed, and intimate. The singer has kept relatively quiet throughout the 12 years that have led to My Favourite Faded Fantasy, releasing only one other record since his debut. However, as much as Rice’s brand of folk is catchy and evocative of calm nights spent by a fireside, on the whole it’s not incredibly different from his debut record. One wonders, “Hey, Damien, what have you been doing with all your time?”
Tracks like “My Favourite Faded Fantasy” are worthwhile, though. It’s a lot more punchy and rock ’n’ roll than Rice’s previous excursions out of the folk genre, and builds up to a great climax; however, it still plays like an indie-rock ballad, so there’s really nothing new here. Rice shows a growth in instrumentation with tracks like “It Takes a Lot to Know a Man,” which has more levels than his straightforward and simple folk roots. There’s still some good, simple folk here, though, folks. (Hah, get it? Folk? Folks?) Anyway, tracks like “The Greatest Bastard” play not so much like the slightly upbeat folk that Rice displayed in his first record, but more like the melancholic brand of acoustic ballads that Dan Mangan is partial to, but simpler and more straightforward than Mangan’s work. But whether you condemn Rice’s simplicity or applaud his bare-bones approach, this record is — while not made up of particularly memorable tracks — a body of works that play quite well together. If ever you need a record to put on while you sit by a fireside sipping hot chocolate or peppermint tea, this is it.
