''My Favourite Faded Fantasy'' is the third studio album by Irish singer, songwriter and producer

Damien Rice Damien George Rice (born 7 December 1973) is an Irish singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. He began his career as a member of the 1990s rock group Juniper, who were signed to Polygram Records in 1997. The band enjoyed moderate success ...

. The album was released in Ireland on 31 October 2014 and subsequently in other territories on 3 November and then released on vinyl on 7 November 2014, almost eight years since the release of his previous album, '' 9''. The album was produced by

Rick Rubin Frederick Jay Rubin (; born March 10, 1963) is an American record producer. He is the co-founder (alongside Russell Simmons) of Def Jam Recordings, founder of American Recordings, and former co-president of Columbia Records. Rubin helped popula ...

Critical reception

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, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from music critics, the album has received an

average In ordinary language, an average is a single number taken as representative of a list of numbers, usually the sum of the numbers divided by how many numbers are in the list (the arithmetic mean). For example, the average of the numbers 2, 3, 4, 7 ...

score of 76, indicating "generally favorable", based on 15 reviews. Jessica Goodman and Ryan Kistobak of ''

The Huffington Post ''HuffPost'' (formerly ''The Huffington Post'' until 2017 and sometimes abbreviated ''HuffPo'') is an American progressive news website, with localized and international editions. The site offers news, satire, blogs, and original content, and ...

'' included the album on their list of 2014's best releases, declaring the album "a devastating reminder that love leaves you crumbling and fantasies are just fiction". Goodman complimented Rice's "delicate vocals" as "sinister and familiar".

Track listing

Personnel

– vocals, acoustic guitar (1–8), electric guitar (1), piano (1, 2, 4–7), clarinet (1, 8), tambourine (1), sounds and percussion (2), pump organ (5, 6), bass (7, 8), harmonium (8) * Joel Shearer – crotales (1, 8), tambourine (1), shaker (1), electric guitar swells (1), bass (2, 6, 7), sounds and percussion (2), electric guitar (2, 4, 8), cuatro (7), muted guitar (7), dulcimer (7), cymbals (7), Wurlitzer (8), bells (8), vibraphone (8), piano (8), celeste (8), glockenspiel (8), chimes (8), acoustic guitar (8), harmonium (8) *

Zac Rae Zac Rae is an American musician, best known as the keyboardist, pianist, and multi-instrumentalist of the indie rock band Death Cab for Cutie, with whom he has recorded two studio albums and two EPs. Rae is a former member of Alanis Morissette' ...

– Wurlitzer (1, 4), pad (1), tack piano (1), vibraphone (2), Hammond organ (3, 4), piano (4) *

David Rawlings David Todd Rawlings (born December 31, 1969) is an American guitarist, singer, and record producer. He is known for his partnership with singer and songwriter Gillian Welch. He and Welch were nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Son ...

– archtop guitar (1, 7), backing vocals (7) *

Cora Venus Lunny Cora Venus Lunny (born 1982) is an Irish violinist, composer, singer, and actress. She is the daughter of Irish musician Dónal Lunny and German photographer Julia Buthe. Established as a classical musician since her teens, Lunny is active as a ...

– violin (1–4, 7), backing vocals (1, 2, 7), viola (2, 3) *Borgar Magnason – double bass (1, 3, 5, 7) *Sólrún Sumarliðadóttir – cello (1) *Julia Mogensen – cello (1, 2, 5, 6, 8) *Shahzad Ismaily – bass (1, 2, 4), drums (6, 8), shaker (6), floor tom (7), Hammond organ (8), cymbals (8), crotales (8), Moog (8), cowbell (8) *Magnús Trygvason Eliassen – drums (1) * Earl Harvin – percussion (1), drums (4), tambourine (4) *Helgi Jónsson – trombone (1, 2, 3, 6, 8), backing vocals (2) *

James Gadson James Gadson ( James Edward Gadson; born June 17, 1939) is an American drummer and session musician. Beginning his career in the late 1960s, Gadson has since become one of the most-recorded drummers in the history of R&B. He is also a singer and ...

– drums (2) *

Alex Somers Alex Somers (born March 7, 1984) is an American visual artist and musician from Baltimore, Maryland, who attended Berklee College of Music and Listaháskóli Íslands. Somers lives and works in Los Angeles. Previously he ran a recording studi ...

– sampler (2–4, 8), bass drum (3), sub bass (3), harp (4) *

Deron Johnson Deron Roger Johnson (July 17, 1938 – April 23, 1992) was an American professional baseball infielder, outfielder, designated hitter, and coach, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the New York Yankees, Kansas City/Oakland Athletics, ...

– piano (2, 3), Hammond organ (1) *

Tina Dico Tina Dico (born Tina Dickow Danielsen on 14 October 1977) is a Danish singer-songwriter. She founded her own record label and releases her music independently, enjoying large success with her albums in her home country as well as critical acclai ...

– backing vocals (2) *Bryndis Halla Gylfadottir – cello (3, 4) *Frank Aarnink – tympani (3), gong (3), cymbals (3) *Una Sveinbjarnardottir – violin (5, 6, 8), viola (8) *

Markéta Irglová Markéta Irglová () (born 28 February 1988) is a Czech-Icelandic singer-songwriter, musician and actress, who starred in the film '' Once'', which earned her a number of major awards, including the Academy Award for Best Original Song for "Fal ...

– piano (6), vocals (8) *Gyda Valtisdottir – cello (6, 8), backing vocals (8) *

Victor Indrizzo Victor Indrizzo (born September 23, 1967) is an American session musician, primarily known for playing the drums, as well as a songwriter and producer. Indrizzo was born in Freeport, Long Island, New York. He has toured, recorded and worked wit ...

– drums (7) *Marlana Sheetz – backing vocals (1, 8) *Andrew Heringer – backing vocals (7) *Robbie Arnett – backing vocals (7, 8) *

Rónán Ó Snodaigh Rónán Ó Snodaigh (born 1 January 1970 in Dublin, Ireland) is a songwriter, composer, musician, poet and founding member and lead vocalist in the musical group Kíla. He has revolutionised the playing of the bodhrán and written many songs in ...

– bodhran (7), backing vocals (7) *

Colm Ó Snodaigh Colm Ó Snodaigh (born 22 May 1966) is a member of the traditional Irish folk group Kíla. He is also a writer and a former sportsman, winning honours in football, hurling and tennis. Personal life Ó Snodaigh was born in Dublin and reared ...

– tin whistle (7) *Emil Friðfinnsson – French horn (8)

Commercial performance

In Canada, the album debuted at number eight on the Canadian Albums Chart, selling just 4,000 copies.

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

References

External links

* {{Authority control 2014 albums Damien Rice albums Albums produced by Rick Rubin Albums recorded at Shangri-La (recording studio) Vector Recordings albums