It’s been eight years since his last record, 9, but on November 11, Irish artist Damien Rice will release the new album, My Favorite Faded Fantasy.
Rice’s upcoming 8-track album is co-produced with the influential Rick Rubin. Rubin has worked with artists ranging from Lady Gaga to Metallica, and is the founder of Def Jam Records. The recording of the album started in LA but ended in Iceland. While Rice says he turned to Rick based on a “feeling that [he] would feel comfortable being open and being me and being vulnerable” around him, Rubin had decided Rice “was [his] new favorite artist” after seeing him play live. Rubin says a lot of his work was “to help [Rice] see what was so clear to everyone else in the room.”
Rice’s melancholic and moving voice has kept fans waiting a long while, but it’s certainly been worth it. You can tell from the short album preview (featuring Rice, an acoustic guitar, beautiful lyrics, and an equally beautiful backdrop) that Newsweek was right in calling him “the most poignant and scrappy songwriter around.”
While the full album comes out November 11, the single “I Don’t Want To Change You” will be available at the end of September. You can check out the extremely poignant preview video below, along with a full track list.
My Favorite Faded Fantasy Track List:
01. My Favorite Faded Fantasy
02. It Takes A Lot To Know A Man
03. The Greatest Bastard
04. I Don’t Want To Change You
05. Color Me In
06. The Box
07. Trusty And True
08. Long Long Way