Upon hearing Dido's solo debut for the first time, I thought it was an incredible album. As I experienced all the songs I fell deeper into her voice, and the smooth yet electronic sounds. But as a short time passed my love affair was looking more like a one night stand than a long term relationship. I soon realized that what I was listening to was more akin to a musical fling. My mistress Dido was giving me all the sex I wanted and leaving out the things that would keep me in her life. I found myself losing interest not long after the plastic was off the jewel case, and the reason was simple.
The depth was not there, sonically she and her collaborators delivered some subtle hip-hop samples and Madonna "Music" like sounds and vibes. Together with her near angelic voice it all comes together quite well. Yet without any deep and meaningful lyrics the relationship was doomed to become a could have been. Sure Dido makes the attempt throughout No Angel. The only problem is, for the most part I just don't care very much. On the opening track Here With Me her soft delivery and slightly mysterious sounds are pleasing to the ear, but the message is boring and becomes lost in the musical mood. Yes it's a "I can't breathe until you're resting here with me" kind of song.
On My Lover's Gone my ears were treated to a complex auditory experience. With the sounds of electronic sea gull type sounds, deep pounding bass, and some nice guitar work, my stereo almost seems to want to blast this one. But with lyrics like "my lover's gone, his boots no longer by my door" I find myself forgetting this one when the track number changes. Things seem to pick up by the time ThankYou (not a typo) rolls around. Ironically enough almost a year after No Angel is released this song and album is made famous by someone that is nothing like Dido. Eminem's The Marshall Mathers LP used ThankYou as a back drop of sorts, for the song Stan which is pure rap genius in my humble opinion, but I digress.
ThankYou is very radio friendly and immediately likable upon first listen. Not over produced or trying too hard, Dido delivers her usual nonchalant lyrics. The idea behind the song is a simple one really, it's just about thanking someone for being her savior and her coat on a rainy day if you will. If I had to point at something and say "that's as good as it gets", you would no doubt see my finger pointing in the direction of Honestly Ok. This song is a testament to complex synthesized music that is intricate but no overly so. It is layered in such a way that it never sounds harsh or causes anything to get lost in the mix. The sounds, especially in the opening are addictive, but I can't quite identify every sound on this track.
If you focus your "ear" on different parts of the song as it plays, you can pick out so many little effects going on at the same time. In the opening if you listen very carefully you can hear a spoken loop that plays in the background, that is the only sound that is hard to find. Dido shows her silky voice about a minute into the song. Imagine if you will that Honestly Ok is a complex, highly detailed sonic landscape for just a moment. When the song dies down and Dido begins to sing the first verse it's as if her voice were the deepest, smoothest, blue lake. Her delivery is so very cool and refreshing, kudos to her vocal cords and everyone involved in the recording process.
It's nice to see that in the current pop heavy music cycle we are experiencing, someone still cares about good sound. This song was meant to be enjoyed on a good sound system. Other than this music highlight there is nothing else here that really grabbed me in the long term. Isobel is a well done sad song, but for the life of me I can't tell you what it's about. Deep songs can be deciphered (for the most part) with some lyrical study, but this does not seem to be the case here, for me anyway. Is it about someone leaving her? Maybe a song about dad leaving? To tell you the truth it sounds sweet but the story is not apparent to me. I was about to do some research into this song. But then it dawned on me that I just didn't really care. So in the end, I abandoned the idea.
In the end this is how I feel about this album, to me it's very much like Sarah McLachlan's Surfacing. I love to put it on when I am doing something like reading. I enjoy it like a nice soak in the hot tub, but I'm not concerned with how the water gets heated or how many jets it has. Just like Surfacing I can tell you what songs I like, but damn if I can tell you what any of it is about. You can imagine how I laughed to myself when I found out that Dido and Sarah are label mates. Dido's No Angel has sold copies by the ton because it's a casual music listeners dream come true. It's catchy, well produced and never offensive. On a side note I have to mention how Dido sounds so much like Beth Orton on some tracks. They are not similar musically, but vocally Dido sounds so much like her more folky counterpart.
So standing on either side of this No Angel fence are two very different crowds. If you are on the Jewel, Sarah McLachlan and maybe even Moby Play side, this one is for you. If however you are more on the Tori Amos / Fiona Apple side I recommend you avoid this one, you are not missing much. No Angel is without a doubt a beautiful sonic painting. But music fans that are looking for something that is lyrically deep will be very disappointed when they dive in, only to find their faces hitting the canvas.
Dido was five when she stole her first recorder. This didn t lead to prison but rather to her entrance one year later into the Guildhall School of Mus...More at Buy.com Marketplaces
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