Top critical review
3.0 out of 5 starsOddly revealing, on many different levels
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 27 October 2010
This is a review of Dido - Safe Trip Home [Deluxe Edition].
Of course very few of us come to a Dido album without preconceptions, and I found this CD confirmed some of mine and challenged others.
In terms of the challenged preconception, the idea that Dido produces dispassionate, emotionless music is widely propagated, although not accepted by her fans of course. The lyrics on this album surprised me by coming across as very personal, honest and made me warm to Dido as an individual. Despite the allegedly privileged upbringing, the not unattractive appearance etc., she clearly has to put up with the disappointments that life and love occasionally throw our way, and expresses these in song beautifully. That was a surprise to me, I must say, and one of the reasons why I'll stick with this album and keep listening to it.
The other 'reveal' though is that the music works best when the template has something else added to it e.g. Eno's "Grafton Street", Citizen Cope's contribution to "Burnin' Love" (not a cover of the Elvis classic, I should point out) and the slow-burning string arrangement that producer Jon Brion gives to the 8+ minutes of "Northern Skies" that closes the album proper.
On the bonus disc, there is "For One Day" which has a curious strings-tracking-the-vocal effect that brings to mind Philly soul of the 70s, "Summer" which sounds like an acoustic guitar doodle expanded into a full song, and (as a complete surprise) a magnificent Sister Bliss remix of "Northern Skies" that adds some extra movement and dynamism to the original without losing its power. Oh, and - on a PC near you - a short film about the making of the album, in which various protagonists line up to say what a wonderful, intuitive, natural musician Dido is. Maybe a bit of spin introduced by the record company there. For her own part, Dido is very honest in the film, saying that she only wants to write songs that connect with people - something in which she clearly succeeds, given the many glowing reviews here.
