[vidiot]

This is how I interpret the news posted on Damien's official site.

"After much thought and discussion Damien has decided that his professional relationship with Lisa Hannigan has run its creative course. As a result Lisa will not be appearing at any of the upcoming live shows. Lisa is embarking on her own artistic endeavours and there are no plans for them to work together in the foreseeable future. The current band on tour at the moment are - Damien Rice, Joel Shearer, Shane Fitzsimons, Tom Osander & Vyvienne Long."

Discussion means that it was more than one person...unless Damien was talking to himself again. Professional doesn't mean friendship. Upcoming and foreseeable future doesn't mean forever. Meaning Damien and Lisa are still friends but she will not be singing with Damien and the band for the remainder of the upcoming shows. It doesn't mean that she won't sing with Damien on his next album or that we will never see them play live again, just not "for the forseeable" future.

We shouldn't pry into their business and try to figure out why this happened, who said what, or what decisions were made. Who knows, maybe Lisa wasn't happy being on the road so much and wanted to go home see her family and record a her own album so she quit. I don't believe anything until I hear it direct from the source.

Yes this sucks for all the fans that wanted to see the two of them together, but it shouldn't turn you away from Damien. I wish Lisa the best in her new path and I hope this change will allow Damien to continue to expand on his creativity.

If you have been listening to the live stuff out lately...or been to any recent shows you will notice that Damien is moving back to his harder roots, louder, more energetic, experimenting with loops and more epic crescendos. Lisa to me was always the softer, operatic and folksy side.