Damien Rice was born to George and Maureen Rice and raised in Celbridge, County Kildare, Ireland. Rice was a member of the rock band Juniper under the name of Dodi Ma. Having released the singles "The World Is Dead" and "Weatherman" in Ireland during 1998, the band was due to record their first full album for Polygram in 1999. However, Rice became disenchanted with the label and left the band to pursue a solo career. His Juniper band mates later became Bell X1. Following the split, Rice moved to rural Italy and busked around Europe until he was able to form a band and resume gigging in Ireland. Regular members of this band were cellist Vyvienne Long; percussionist Tom Osander (aka Tomo), a member of the 1990s jam band God Street Wine; and bassist Shane Fitzsimons. Female vocals were provided by Lisa Hannigan. The lineup of Rice's band has remained the same with the exception of the departure of Hannigan and Osander in 2007.
Contains the hidden track “9 Crimes” (Demo) in the pregap of the track. It is a rough demo of “9 Crimes” with all vocals sung by Rice.
“The Animals Were Gone” — 5:41
“Elephant” — 5:57
“Rootless Tree” - 4:22
“Dogs” — 4:11
“Coconut Skins” — 3:45
“Me, My Yoke + I” — 5:57
“Grey Room” — 5:43
“Accidental Babies” — 6:34
“Sleep Don’t Weep” — 21:54
The song ends with 16 minutes of wine glasses and a Tibetan singing bowl, an instrument with alleged healing powers, being played, with Rice whispering in Czech, “it’s over… it’s over”.
