Before he starts the song, Damien Rice provides a date-stamp: “December 3, ’97, song called ‘Volcano,’” he says in a sullen, sleepy voice, as he gathers strength to sing an erratic early version of what became a signature tune. The track’s prelude shows how Rice, who rocketed to the top of troubadourland with his 2003 debut O, kept track of his writing. But it also suggests strong self-awareness – even then, the Irishman anticipated that pop historians might someday pore through his cassette box, hunting for the first sparks. The demo of “Volcano” is, happily, the only self-mythologizing on B-Sides, which includes one live track (“Delicate”) and a surprisingly vivid instrumental (“Volcano”). Several tracks left off of Rice’s debut — the bewitching sex-roles ode “Woman Like a Man” and a brooding reverie entitled “Moody Mooday” — suggest a sensibility more brazen than that exhibited on O. Here’s hoping he lets that side shine on the followup.

DOWNLOAD THESE “Woman Like a Man,” “Volcano” (’97 demo)