Friday, November 14, 2008 - Safe Trip Home with Dido

The first, you might remember, was No Angel, a record made when Dido was a part-time backing singer with a tiny budget and no label. When that record's heartfelt tracks were released in 1999, nobody, least of all Dido, expected the album to eventually become the planet's biggest seller of 2001. The follow-up album, 2003's Life For Rent, also burrowed its way into millions of hearts, hitting number one in 26 countries and lighting up the airwaves in many more.

Her third album, a set of chilly songs that are all about feeling distanced — some of them about mere lost love, some about greater griefs, like her father's recent death. ''Don't look me in the eye more than you need to,'' she coos considerately; meanwhile, Safe Trip Home's co-producer, Jon Brion (Fiona Apple, Kayne West, Rufus Wainwright, Eels), masterfully adds brooding strings that suggest deeper passions at play beneath the resignation. The emotion in these sad, subtle songs seems inherent enough, though you may still find yourself wishing she'd allowed the slightest hint of it to creep into her voice.

Safe Trip Home is the warm, moving, and wonderfully musical third album from Dido, the London-born singer-songwriter with the cracked-crystal voice.  "This album is full of the joy of making music," says Dido. "The process of making it has been a wonderful experience, something to totally cherish. I've put every emotion into these songs. And now I just really hope they move people."

Dido's third album, Safe Trip Home, will be released on November 17th in the UK and Nov 18th in the US.