After four-and-a-half years, Damien Rice has finally produced a follow-up to his mega-selling debut ‘O’. The hiatus hasn’t led to any dramatic departures but his knack of drawing listeners into his lyrically melancholy world with hooky melodies remains happily intact. His minimally titled follow-up ‘9’ is perhaps more cohesive than its predecessor, and there’s fresh confidence in evidence, too, with swirling strings, swathes of distorted guitar and even glass-playing added to the mix. Good things come to those who wait.