My Favourite Faded Fantasy

by Damien Rice

Overview

Damien Rice doesn't do anything in a hurry. He lets his songs unfold at a deliberate, almost stately pace and he's similarly unconcerned about rushing through his career, taking a full eight years to deliver 2014's My Favourite Faded Fantasy, which amounts to only his third record in 12 years. Other artists who have experienced a similarly long gestation period return with long, overblown works, but not Rice. He teamed with Rick Rubin, the Zen master of acoustic basics, to shape an exquisitely textured collection of eight songs that runs just a hair over 50 minutes (a simultaneously released deluxe edition contains just one bonus cut). Rice doesn't greatly expand his aesthetic -- he's still equal parts Jeff Buckley and Thom Yorke, cut with the sullen singer/songwriter sophistication of Nick Drake -- but refinement is Rice's signature. He whittles away the excess in his words and melody, then dresses the detailed sculpture in finely tailored accouterments of slightly sighing strings, strummed guitars, and a hint of forward momentum lying within buried rhythms. This means My Favourite Faded Fantasy may come on as a bit underwhelming at first but that's the intent: it's not designed to grab, it's designed to soothe and then slowly worm its way into the subconscious, which is where these eight songs reveal themselves to be as strong as anything else Rice has written. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Product Details

Release Date:	11/11/2014
Label:	Atlantic
UPC:	0825646233434

Tracks

1. My Favourite Faded Fantasy
2. It Takes A Lot To Know A Man
3. The Greatest Bastard
4. I Don't Want To Change You
5. Colour Me In
6. The Box
7. Trusty And True
8. Long Long Way

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Damien Rice   Primary Artist,Organ,Piano,Vocals,Clarinet,Harmonium,Percussion,Pump Organ,Tambourine,Guitar (Bass),Guitar (Acoustic),Guitar (Electric),Vocals (Background)
Shahzad Ismaily   Bass,Bells,Drums,Shaker,Cowbell,Crotale,Cymbals,Floor Tom,Guitar (Bass),Organ (Hammond),Moog Synthesizer
Zac Rae   Piano,Wurlitzer,Tack Piano,Vibraphone,Organ (Hammond),Electronic Percussion
James Gadson   Drums
Earl Harvin   Drums,Percussion,Tambourine
David Rawlings   Guitar,Guitar (Acoustic),Vocals (Background)
Victor Indrizzo   Drums
Joel Shearer   Bass,Bells,Piano,Chimes,Cuatro,Guitar,Shaker,Celeste,Crotale,Cymbals,Dulcimer,Harmonium,Wurlitzer,Percussion,Tambourine,Vibraphone,Glockenspiel,Guitar (Bass),Guitar (Acoustic),Guitar (Electric)
Deron Johnson   Piano,Organ (Hammond)
Una Sveinbjarnardottir   Viola,Violin
Cora Venus Lunny   Viola,Violin,Vocals (Background)
Marketa Irglova   Piano,Vocals
Tina Dico   Vocals (Background)
Ronan O Snodaigh   Bodhran,Vocals (Background)
Solrun Sumarlidadottir   Cello
Borgar Magnason   Double Bass
Robert Arnett   Vocals (Background)
Emil Fridjfinnsson   French Horn
Colm O Snodaigh   Tin Whistle
Frank Aarnink   Gong,Cymbals,Timpani
Andrew Heringer   Vocals (Background)
Gydja Valtysdottir   Cello,Vocals (Background)
Helgi Jonsson   Trombone,Vocals (Background)
Alex Somers   Bass,Harp,Sampling,Drums (Bass)
Emil Fridfinnsson   French Horn
Bryndis Halla Gylfadottir   Cello
Julia Mogensen   Cello
Sturla Mio Þorisson   Vocals,Guitar (Acoustic)
Magnus Trygvason Eliassen   Drums
Marlana Sheetz   Vocals (Background)
Anna Antonsson   Fonts

Technical Credits

Bob Ludwig   Mastering
Karl Odlum   Engineer
David Rawlings   Engineer,Recording
Joel Shearer   Sounds,Engineer,Producer,Recording
Rick Rubin   Producer
Gillian Welch   Engineer,Recording
Chris Steffen   Mixing,Engineer,Recording
Cora Venus Lunny   Engineer,Recording
Jason Lader   Engineer,Recording
Damien Rice   Sounds,Arranger,Composer,Engineer,Producer,Recording
Eric Lynn   Production Coordination
David Covell   Production Assistant
Kari Sturluson   Advisor
Dana Nielsen   Mixing
Alex Somers   Mixing,Engineer,Recording
Sean Oakley   Engineer,Recording
Sturla Mio Þorisson   Mixing,Engineer,Recording,Unknown Contributor Role
Rick Ruben   Producer
Birgir Jon Birgisson   Engineer,Recording
Joshua Smith   Assistant,Assistant Engineer
Dave Hanych   Production Coordination
Anna Antonsson   Sketches,Graphic Design
Joshua Sieh   Engineer,Recording
Escif   Artwork
Dana Neilsen At Little People Studio, La, USA   Mixing
Karl Odium   Recording