Album Review: No Angel by Dido (1999)
by Kristy Parker
I first became interested in Dido's music back in 2001, when her ethereal "Here With Me" was used as the theme song to the teen sci-fi drama, Roswell. Her voice has a soft, breathy mezzoalto quality that reminds me a bit of the mystical vocals of the controversial Sinead O'Conner. Her soothing, almost otherworldly, vocals are a big reason "Here With Me" was featured so prominently in a show about people not of this earth. So I decided to purchase Dido's No Angel on the strength of one track, which is something I really can't afford to do these days, what with all the realities of adulthood being shoved onto (and into) my bank account.
No Angel was released in 1999 to little fanfare; it wasn't until Eninem sampled "Thank You" in his 2000 song, "Stan" that her album started to be more widely requested. So even if you're not a fan of Eninem, you can thank him for introducing the world to Dido's music. Stan is about a crazed, Eninem fanatic who becomes so obesessed with the idea of communicating with his hero, that he drives his car into a river, with his pregnant girlfriend (played by Dido in the music video) in the trunk. The lyrics from the first verse of "Thank You" are sampled during "Stan's" chorus. Dido gives the song much needed insight into why he chooses to channel so much importance into a man he's never met: "My tea's gone cold, I'm wondering why I got out of bed at all/ The morning rain clouds up my windows and I can't see at all/ And even if I could it'd all be grey/but your picture on my wall It reminds me that it's not so bad, it's not so bad." This song is probably what saved Dido from invevitable obscurity.
On first listen, I really didn't know what to think of this London native, former Faithless member, techno queen. Now I can appreciate how rare it is for a musician not to be pigeonholed into one specific musical genre. Her sound has elements of ambient music, soft jazz, alternative, acoustic, trip hop, and dance music. Her lyrics could have been taken out her private diary. Rather than bombard us with detailed, Dylanesque rants, she simplifies her own emotions into scenarios we all can relate to.
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A good example of her lyrical honesty is found in the lo-fi techno tune "Honestly OK": "I just want to feel safe in my own skin/ I just wanted to be be happy again/ I just want to feel deep in my world/ but I'm so lonely I don't even want to be with myself anymore." "Hunter" happens to be one of the best female empowerment anthems I've heard since Gloria Gaynor's "I Will Survive. The chorus sounds like something you would hum to yourself to get you through a bad break-up:"If you were a king up there on your throne, would you be wise enough to let me go?/ For this queen you think you own wants to be a hunter again."
Another standout track is omnious "Isobel," with its layed back, gentle backbeat, haunting distorted guitars and cryptic lyrics about a disappeared lover. Other personal favorites: "My Lover's Gone," "Slide," and the bonus dance track, "Take My Hand." Dido may not be one of the Vintage Rock thunder gods we all know and love, but if you're looking for a cd to listen to while reading some poetry, you've found your girl....and as she'll tell you, she's "no angel."
