I love it.

You could hold the secrets that save
Me from myself
I could love you more than love could
All the way from hell
...
You could be my poison, my cross,
My razor blade
I could love you more than life
If I wasn’t so afraid
Of what it all could be

Does this sound suicidal to anyone else?

Ok guys, what's up with the two different versions? Are they both legit?

acousticguitar.com had a review of the album online, but it seems they've taken it offline again. Luckily, there's Google cache.

"In the eight years since Damien Rice released his second album, 9, a cottage industry of sensitive, Starbucks-approved indie singer-songwriters emerged and then exploded into the teen-pop mainstream with the arrival of Rice-acolyte Ed Sheeran, who graces the cover of our December edition. You can almost imagine Rice hovering in the wings with a furrowed brow, sullenly wringing his hands, thinking, “Please, please, relieve me of this writer’s block.”
Rice has been spared. And the depth and scope of music on his third full-length studio album proves that however seductive the songs of his legion of followers are, Rice’s signature mix of acoustic guitars and strings, loops and layers, and achingly raw confessionals is inimitable. If 2006’s 9 was a slight letdown from Rice’s sublime 2003 debut O, his more mature new album puts the singer and guitarist firmly back in the ring.
Bookended by a pair of hazy, atmospheric pieces—the title song and “Long Long Way”—and fleshed out with sparer songs featuring lots of crisp fingerpicking and swelling strings, the centerpiece of My Favourite Faded Fantasy is the one-two punch of “The Greatest Bastard” and “I Don’t Want to Change You.” The former, over gently picked guitar, is quintessential Rice, questioning a series of statements that are at once self-congratulatory and self-deprecating, and with a wisdom that only comes with age: “I made you laugh, I made you cry, I made you open up your eyes,” he sings, and then after a thoughtful pause, “Didn’t I?”
“I Don’t Want to Change You” combines everything that makes Rice tick: dramatic strings and unadorned acoustic guitar; subtle touches of electronics, keyboards, beats, and a warm heartbeat of a bass line; aching, soulful vocals; and lyrics that burn with the passion of a confused lover. “Wherever you go, I can always follow,” he rasps, as if he’s literally bleeding on the inside. The track is likely a love song to his former musical and romantic partner, Lisa Hannigan, whom he once claimed he still loves. “If you just want to be alone, I can wait without waiting,” he continues. “And if you want me to let this go, I am more than willing. Cause I don’t want to change you. . .I don’t want to change your mind.”
Yet somehow, you get the feeling Rice would like nothing more than to change her mind.
Other standouts among the album’s eight extended songs—only one clocks in at less than five minutes, and two exceed the eight-minute mark—are “Colour Me In” (about wanting to be pulled in) and “The Box” (about feeling tied down). Both are signature Rice songs that begin gently with just guitar before building to a crescendo of strings and wailed vocals. The exotic and sensual “It Takes a Lot to Know a Man” incorporates Middle Eastern-like touches, and “Trusty and True,” with its mix of simple British-folk balladry and a joyful African-like backing choir, adds a sense of spiritual release. As for the two bookends—Rice explores a rainbow of musical and cultural traditions on those tracks, including snaky melodies, classical flirtations, raging rock, and spacey, psychedelic textures.
Ed Sheeran may have taken Rice’s place in the singer’s absence, offering up a similar sense of drama and pathos for a larger and younger audience, but he was never a replacement. After all, it’s hard to imagine Rice venturing into the arena (so to speak) of big looped beats and rap. Rice’s work depends on nuance and dynamics, depth and scope. And after nearly a decade in the waiting, My Favourite Faded Fantasy delivers all of that in a set of scorching tracks of long-dormant anguish finally set free."

^wow, great finding!! amazing review!

Wow... I can't wait...

What a fantastic review... I cannot wait to hear it in its entirety

Thank you for catching this review! It is great and seems to be from someone who really knows his music. I can't wait to hear the global, cultural touches!

The Wooden Box
http://vimeo.com/109468868

Great find! That review makes me very excited about getting this album. I can't wait.

My gosh! If he gets an actual gospel choir (like the old Harlem boy's choir!) for backing vocals at the Apollo for T&T, it will be worth what I paid that scalper!

Nice review!

I watched this the other day. I'm still torn on whether to get the limited edition wooden CD box or the vinyl.. I guess I'd better make up my mind since it's limited..

^both ;) I think there´s a bundle in which you get both the vinyl and the CD box and it´s actually not that expensive

Yeah I got the vinyl & CD box set. I was actually hoping they'd have a vinyl wooden box, but alas...

agreed! I bought the cd & vinyl set and was also hoping for a wooden album box.

Okay, both then :smiley4:

I just checked the DR.com store for the pre-order and the bonus track is now listed as "Camarillas".

There's a very, very small review in the Dutch newspaper Telegraaf today. MFFF gets 5 out of 5 stars. I saw someone mentioning a review in The Guardian yesterday or today, but I can't find it. Anyone?

Here's the guardian interview:

http://www.theguardian.com/music/201...-faded-fantasy

Isn't it release week here in continental Europe? I'm keeping my fingers crossed that Warner will start shipping preorders sooner rather than later. If I get my wooden box before Friday, it would be the perfect travel companion for my trip to Berlin. That's my favourite far-from-faded fantasy, for what it's worth.

"Making of..." vid

http://www.rte.ie/ten/news/2014/1028...e-album-video/

or here http://www.neonmag.fr/damien-rice-le...u-a347330.html

or here http://www.rtbf.be/purefm/article_in...ice?id=8388485

:D funny how they all say "exclusive!!!" and it's the same vid

all these are geolocked, you need Hola

http://i59.tinypic.com/2ai0rbl.png :smiley26:

oh, you even included instructions :)
will check it out when I'm at home.

thanks!!

Hola doesn't seem to be working for me today.
was looking for the video on Italian websites but nothing found... I guess it's just a metter of time until it becomes watchable everywhere...

anyway, anything new on it? Parts for songs that we never heartd etc.?

No luck here, either. Couldn't find a German website hosting the video. :-(

If there's anything I hate, are geolocked videos. Something I will never understand.

I think it's very important that all damo fans watch this vid. It's probably nothing "new" regarding all the other interviews in press but there's something so genuine and down to earth in the way he expresses how this whole process was that I think it's a must watch and I wish it was longer.

There are bits of songs in the background, the singles and TGB

https://www.sendspace.com/file/qtv8kc

http://i57.tinypic.com/ohikn.jpg


http://i62.tinypic.com/dcx0eg.jpg

I did get it to work with Hola here in the US...

Thanks for the upload Eva!

Thank you Eva! Downloading now!

¡Muchas gracias, Eva! Támpoco estaban disponibles los vídeos a este lado de la cordillera.

Thank you, Eva!!!

There's also a UK link: http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/music/ne...oU0RjEXxeepllT

for Italian fans, the video is on CorriereTV with subtitles and on ninecrimes with the transcript: http://www.ninecrimes.it/2014/10/dam...ta-fantastica/
http://video.corriere.it/damien-rice...3-2a5a253459da