Damien Rice - Rootless Tree

The be-cardiganed one has taken his time following up on 2002's O, and the first offering from 9 shows how little he has travelled musically in the process. 'Rootless Tree' has all the earnestness and ultimate despair of its predecessors: "Let me out! Let me out!" cries our hero in the stirring outro. But what exactly is he locked into? A pickle jar? The airing cupboard? This corporeal shell we call the human body? Or maybe it's the filthy business we call Show? In which case, by the fourth wail, this writer was reaching for the key to release him. [Barry Jackson]