Damien Rice swears a lot. Not that I mind. I like it when Rice sings: "You wanna get burned, you wanna get turned, you wanna get fucked inside out." It adds an urgency of meaning that only profanity can express and I suspect that live, this excites and woos an audience.
This fire-fuelled lyrical tirade begins the chorus to the title track of Rice's second single, Woman like a Man. I've never heard a bloke sound like Tori Amos before, but Rice does, his inflections jumpy and stalling, then lingering longingly.
But the chorus, despite the lyrics, moves in a direction akin to chirpy American-spun folk, bringing to mind early Don McLean. Yet ultimately Rice needs to break the shackles of his musical influences and reach further into himself for inspiration.
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