It's been 5 years since we've heard from Dido, the British singer who in the early '00s dominated the charts with her appealing singer-songwriter pop with a modern downbeat twist. Her 2001 debut, No Angel, and its 2003 follow-up, Life for Rent, were a similar mix of big-sounding pop hits, dance-oriented material and stripped-down ballads like her massive US hit "Thank You." While peers like Paula Cole or Jewel saw themselves relegated to adult contemporary radio (and their popularity fade), Dido managed to appeal to both the AC and top 40 audiences, even attracting attention from hip-hop fans as she saw her "Thank You" borrowed for Eminem's hit single "Stan."
Safe Trip Home takes a quieter approach than her previous work. Many of the same elements are here--opening track "Don't Believe in Love" blends heart-tugging strings and horns with a mid-tempo slightly '70s beat--but doesn't aim for the grandeur of her previous hits. Lyrically, she's more jaded now too, the sentiment of "Don't Believe in Love" being a far cry from the woman who refused to give up on a failing relationship in "White Flag."
"Quiet Times" is even mellower, a simple mid-tempo guitar ballad that also finds Dido in the troubled waters of love ("I can't have you, even when you're here"). "Never Want to Say It's Love" puts the strings and horns forward but continues to show a marked restraint. These songs aren't bad, but don't stand out.
"Grafton Street" however is a real stand out, perhaps the album's best. Here Dido ruminates on the recent death of her father. It's a clearly personal song, but it's also quite a beautiful blend of steady percussion, dramatic strings and flute, with a Celtic flavor, courtesy of renowned producer Brian Eno. The contemplative mood it creates is shattered by the charging beginning of the next song, "It Comes and It Goes," the album's most lively track--sometimes. The song alternates between big passages of deep piano chords, horns, drums, and strings and quieter parts that are just the strings and Dido.
"Look No Further" opens with Dido reflecting that she "might have been a singer who sailed around the world" among a host of other less plausible options for her life. It's about having chosen a simple home life instead--a bit disingenuous from someone whose first two tour-backed albums sold 21 million copies, but perhaps she's referring to what she's been doing the last 5 years since then. Again the production is quite simple with few instruments, mainly piano, some strings and a deep horn (trombone maybe? I'm not good at identifying specific brass instruments). "Us 2 Little Gods" brings the tempo back up with a hand-clapping rhythm, but isn't a very interesting song.
Dido returns to the subject of her late father on "The Day Before the Day," a simple guitar ballad that finds Dido singing barely above a whisper. It captures quite perfectly the mixture of feelings over the loss of a parent--how the world moves on around you, regretting unanswered questions that can now never be answered, etc. I lost my own father 2 years ago about the same time she lost hers; listening to this song this morning almost made me cry. She follows with "Let's Do the Things We Normally Do," recalling the time just before her father's death where she expressed a desire to enjoy their little time left by doing the normal stuff, not trying to sum up any life-long pride or regret. She tells him that "I'll say 'see you later'"--the implication being that she probably won't.
"Burnin' Love" is a real slow burner of a song, like something Sarah McLachlan would do. "Northern Skies" is the final track. Settle in for this one, for it's almost 9 minutes long. It's a mellow, plodding song. Nothing special. Of the bonus tracks, "For One Day," is the better of the two, featuring an eclectic percussion backing and sharp strings on the chorus, even synthesizer effects. "Summer" isn't a joyous ode to the warm months as you'd expect, but rather a lament for the colder, darker months that have now ended.
The songs are mostly fine, but I miss the more upbeat dance-influenced production of her previous work. I always felt that downbeat electronic touch was what made her stand out from the pack of female singer-songwriter pop artists. She's bared her personal side quite effectively where she explores the impact of her father's death, which results in most of the album's best songs, but many of the others are unremarkable and in general too restrained for my taste.
Best: Grafton Street, Don't Believe in Love, The Day Before the Day, Let's Do the Things We Normally Do, For One Day
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