Damien Rice

Born in Celbridge, County Kildare, Ireland, Damien Rice has since the early 1990s developed a writing centered on folk, folk rock and indie folk, with a marked taste for acoustic arrangements, restrained tensions and songs built around the voice, guitar and piano. Damien Rice began in the band Juniper before leaving that first group at the end of the 1990s, then traveling around Europe, a period often cited as a turning point in his career. Back in Dublin, he launched his solo career with O in 2002, an album recorded in a stripped-down spirit and carried by tracks such as The Blower’s Daughter, Cannonball or Volcano. Surrounded at this time by musicians like Lisa Hannigan, Tom Osander or Vyvienne Long, Damien Rice refines an intimate sound where folk melodies cross with more abrasive climbs and a very direct performance. He followed with 9 in 2006, then My Favourite Faded Fantasy in 2014, after several years more low-profile in terms of discography. On stage, Damien Rice alternates pared-down formats and fuller ensembles, in an approach that remains attached to silence, dynamics and the fragility of singing.