Album Review: O by Damien Rice

High on the list of Things Music Needs No More Of, just below chill-out compilations and anything endorsed by Simon Cowell, lurk folky singer-songwriters. On the surface, this self-produced debut by Dublin's Damien Rice is standard stuff - acoustic lamentations, swirling string arrangements - but, like Kathryn Williams, Rice's personality and deft songwriting hoist him above the mass of bedsit mumblers. Cold Water's wracked vocal overeggs the tortured troubadour pudding, but at its best, O is gorgeous and understated, never too introverted to include a lovely melody.

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