Saying the two sound alike is the kind of understatement Rice specializes in. At their best he and Adams are unparalleled craftsmen of the down-tempo and bittersweet. However Adams' recent swerve into The Prolific opens a door for Rice and other urban provincials (I'm looking at you Bright Eyes) to cement their place near the top of a growing americana field.
Rice's wavering tenor cuts romantic folds from familiar cloth, draping listeners in his confidence and tying you to his point of view. All in all this is a gorgeous piece of hushed singer-songwriting with dramatic nods to opera on "Eskimo" and tinges of jazz-lite throughout. These flourishes as well as a consistently restrained use of violins (not fiddles) lend heartfelt ballads a polish few achieve without coming across as showy. It was good enough to earn the young Irishman 2003's Shortlist Music Prize over everyone's darling in their big "Turn on the Bright Lights" release year and it's good enough for me. I just hope future efforts show the same balance of candor and restraint as heard on "O" lest we end up with more drunken shouting and ubiquitous EP releases (I'm looking at you Ryan Adams).
A note: The Shortlist Music Prize may also be known by his full name, The MTV2 Shortlist Music Prize. Shortlist understandably drops the MTV2 on most occasions in order to distance himself from his older brother's embarrassing obsession with Jessica Simpson.
More note: Not to give too much time to an artist besides the one being reviewed, but I give Ryan Adams a hard time, like so many others, because "Heartbreaker" was exactly, perfectly, beautifully that, and "Gold" very nearly lived up to its namesake as well. I will try to have in patience what he clearly has in productivity.
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