Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * *
After a gap of nearly five years, Dido, the young Londoner who inspired American Rap artist Eminem enough to sample the track Thank You for his international smash-hit Stan, has returned with her brand new album Girl Who Got Away.
The casual nature of the album is on the whole a let-down for somebody who prides themselves on what they make and whilst there may be a couple of decent enough tracks on the album, it is disappointing and not up to the standard of the first two albums she recorded.
Girl Who Got Away sees a more mature vision in Dido’s outlook and that is to be celebrated, especially after taking time out to become a mother but the maturity it reveals throughout the album isn’t the same as having grown with the times and evolved. If anything this has by passed the overall sound and it feels as though that Dido has gone back pre-1999 and started again. A journey backwards that was unnecessary and pointless.
The stand out track is the final offering on the album Day before we went to war, a moment of solitary greatness in an otherwise tepid outlook. Whilst not being able to fully appreciate the album and the work that Dido obviously put in to it, there is a glimmer of hope that as long as she doesn’t lock herself away for too long then there is at least this song to hang onto and move her forward again.
The trouble with the latest album by Dido is that it is bland and regretfully uninspiring for the vast majority of the recording. There is no doubt that Dido’s voice still has that angelic charm that made listeners in their millions fall in love with her when she released her debut album 14 years ago but a voice will only take you so far if the words and music that accompanies it is hollow and a long way from even being a nice piece to put on during dinner. When something becomes even unworthy of playing in the background when you have guests round, for which most of the time you ignore the music anyway, then it isn’t a good sign.
Girl Who Got Away is unfortunately instantly forgettable.
Ian D. Hall