Damien Rice is on the front cover of tomorrow's Insider magazine

SINGER Damien Rice has spoken about missing his ex-girlfriend Lisa Hannigan while working on his new album.

The Kildare man says that her absence played a central role during the creative process behind his first collection of music in eight years.

The pair ended their romantic and professional relationship after the release of 2006 album '9'.

In tomorrow's INSIDER magazine with the Irish Independent, Rice says: "It wasn't even so much missing the voice. It was just missing Lisa. It was missing my partner in the studio."

He admits that he wanted Lisa involved with the new album. "I spoke to her about it and asked her what she thought, and she very beautifully responded saying that she thinks it's best for both of us that we… do our own thing right now.

"The moment I got that response, boom!

"Everything started working. Because I could let go, and I was like, 'Ok, I'm doing this alone'."

Irish Independent