Dido

Artist : Dido Album : Life for Rent (BMG Music)

What Dido offered in 1999's debut album No Angel was light pop that was so earthy and ordinary it was charming. Not revolutionary in any sense, its sweet and simple quality meant that any of the 12 million people who bought the album could relate to it.

Life for Rent is made with the same formula, only it's a bit more sophisticated -- thanks to help from big brother, musician Rollo.

With a touch of trip hop plus Dido's smooth voice, the numbers will easily touch your ears and heart. It talks mostly about heartache, the result of breaking up with a longtime fiance.

However, with the laid-back and drifting tunes, and her smooth voice, it is a bit difficult to catch the lyrics. We hardly realize that Mary's in India is about her playing around with her friend's boyfriend while the girl is on another continent.

And it almost passes without our realizing that Dido actually wrote some very good lines (check out the title track, White Flag, Sand in My Shoes and The Land is Mine).

Nevertheless, we can sense the emotion and we enjoy the songs. Each of them. -- Hera Diani