Safe Trip Home

Safe Trip Home, the third album from singer-songwriter Dido, sees the chanteuse cook up a slightly different ambience than on previous albums No Angel (1999) and Life for Rent (2003). Though her signature elements remain in place--the limited, slightly cracked falsetto; the dreamy, comforting trip-hop vibe--there seems to be an extra density to Safe Trip Home, doubtless provoked by the loss of her father in 2006. The added weight is predominantly in the lyrics, which tend to focus on loss and heartache, but there's extra detail and depth in the musicianship too, since Dido has been busy honing her skills as a multi-instrumentalist. Despite the denser themes, the music still drifts by in classic Dido style, moving smoothly through the insouciant "Don't Believe in Love", the aptly titled "Quiet Times", and "Never Want to Say It's Love", before arriving at the somber-yet-elegant six-minute standout "Grafton Street", co-written with Brian Eno and featuring Mick Fleetwood on drums. The rest of the album unfurls in similarly sophicticated fashion, featuring the folkish "Look No Further", the upbeat "Us 2 Little Gods" and a nine-minute poetic closer called "Northern Skies". Put simply, Safe Trip Home is Dido on superlative form. --Danny McKenna

Why does everyone seem to dislike Dido so much? Surely it can't just be because she dares to make music that doesn't pander to tastes of boys in skinny jeans and that isn't overwrought with clashing guitars or pounding drums?

If prejudices can be put aside, then this album will be celebrated as the long-awaited return of a fine songwriter and beautiful singer - after all, it's a massive five years since Life For Rent became the fastest selling album ever by a female artist.

That fact alone should be enough to silence critics, but there are those who'll tell you that sales don't equal talent and that her success comes from the fact that she's inoffensive, middle-of-the-road, coffee table.

Safe Trip Home won't change that opinion but it might make them think long and hard about it. The album, as you'd expect, stays to her tried and tested formula of minimalism, ennui and trademark pathos - from the opening emptiness of Don't Believe In Love to the brooding closer of Northern Skies, there's barely a chink of smiling light to be found in the dark opus.

It's not perfect. Dido's resolute refusal to move away from mid-tempo does mean that on occasion, tracks do slip soporiphically together, but there are enough twinkling jewels to show her shining talent - not least the aforementioned and suitably epic closer and the brilliant Grafton Street, a taut masterwork in sadness that was co-written with Brian Eno.

Dido may not push back the boundaries of music or rage against any machine, but listen closely and you'll find she still delivers devastating blows of emotion - they just come in a gentler way. --Chris Long

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Safe Trip Home (CD Album) by Dido (Armstrong) ex Member: Faithless - Digipak, 11 Tracks: 1. Don't Believe In Love 3:52, 2. Quiet Times 3:17, 3. Never Want To Say It's Love 3:35, 4. Grafton Street 5:57, 5. It Comes And It Goes 3:27, 6. Look No Further 3:13, 7. Us 2 Little Gods 4:49, 8. The Day Before The Day 4:13, 9. Let's Do The Things We Normally Do 4:09, 10. Burnin Love 4:11, 11. Northern Skies 8:55 - Format: CD, Album, Digipak, FOC (aufklappbar) - Label: RCA (LC 00316) - Vertrieb/Company: Sony bmg - Bestell -Nr./Catalog#: 88697162972 - VÖ/Released: 14. November 2008 - Land/Country: EU - Interpret/Artist: Dido (Armstrong) ex Member: Faithless - Titel/Title: Safe Trip Home - Genre: Pop international - EAN/UPC: 886971629729