Irish singer/songwriter Damien Rice is back in the spotlight thanks to the inclusion of his track “The Blower’s Daughter” in the new Mike Nichols film “Closer,” starring Julie Roberts, Jude Law and Natalie Portman. The cut is prominently featured in the film, but because there is no commercial soundtrack, fans will have to turn to Rice’s latest Vector album, “O,” to add it to their collections.
Nichols was introduced to Rice’s music through Creative Artists Agency managing partner Brian Lourd after Rice performed at the 2003 Sundance Film Festival. “I don’t think Mike Nichols could have found a better song,” Vector co-founder Jack Rovner tells Billboard.com. “And Damien could not have written a better song for the film had he been asked. It was truly serendipitous.”
Even though “Closer” doesn’t open until this weekend in U.S. theaters, the film’s Rice-featuring trailer has already spurred new interest in “0,” which won the 2003 Shortlist Prize. According to Rovner, sales of the set have increased more than 100% in the past three weeks.
A video for the “The Blower’s Daughter,” including “Closer” footage, is in rotation at VH1, and Rice will perform tonight on “The Tonight Show With Jay Leno.” Tomorrow, he will play a one-off show at the Troubadour in Los Angeles.
“The whole project is coming back to the forefront again,” Rovner says. “We have the ability to turn a lot more people on to Damien’s music thanks to a very important film. The way the music resides in this film, it truly has become part of the dialog. It opens the entire film without any dialog, and the song is replayed in its entirety at the end.”
Rovner says Rice is “in the midst of putting the pieces together for a new album,” but no timetable has been set for its release.
