Dramatic isn't a word in Dido's vocabulary, as her music has stated often throughout her career. Each album since her 1999 debut was subtle, coy, and never strayed too far out of her norm. "No Angel" and "Life for Rent" still struck a chord with the masses, as 30 million copies were moved between the two. The reasoning behind this remains uncertain, as both albums were strikingly similar, and their hits "Thank You" and "White Flag" weren't your typical mainstream fare. Still, it's interesting to see how many people fell in love with this British songstress. Her 2008 set "Safe Trip Home" failed to replicate the massive success of its predecessors, most likely due to the fact that five years separated it from its predecessor. So, come 2013, another five years after the sort-of flop that was "Safe Trip Home", she delivers us with a neon-dazzled and electronic-influenced collection of songs that re-iterate another fact about Dido: commercial success isn't really a priority of hers.
"Girl Who Got Away" is just as shy and soft as anything she's ever done, and its done in a way that accepts modern trends, but doesn't abandon her signature style. She reigns in techno's eccentricities, she keeps the beats quiet yet insistent, and the synthesized atmospheres blend in well enough to be almost inaudible. She certainly didn't become a platinum selling artist by changing the game each album out. No, she sticks to what she does best. Her distinctive and silky voice is front and center, helping the music suck you into its sentiments. This is one trick Dido has perfected over the last decade, because as stiff as her albums may seem, they're not boring. They're not club-ready, just to be sure, but more times than none she offers plenty of slow-burning hooks to compensate for her staid nature. "Girl Who Got Away" does offer more of the same, but that's rarely a bad thing in a Dido album. The familiarity works well considering that she does indeed change her sound from each album to the next. Her previous three albums may evoke the same feelings when listening to them, but they're distinct enough to not be shuffled aside as carbon copies. That's exactly what she does here: she widens her range and experiments with electronica, yet delivers the songs the exact same way she always has. This leads to some truly brilliant music, the best example being "End of Night", a dancier track that boasts a production that slowly works its way into your subconcious. As for the second half of the record after "Sittin on the Roof of the World", these tracks as a whole do suffer from too much consistency. She doesn't always execute them well enough to be memorable, and cannot seem to replenish the momentum brought on in the first half the record. But that doesn't mean it's not good music, such a thing could never occur with Dido. It's not the big, fun extravaganza that the album cover seems to promise, but it's rather mood music for a walk in the park at night, picking out furniture, or fine dining. "Girl Who Got Away" offers some of Dido's most refreshing and accessible songs, never reaching the highs of "White Flag" or "Thank You", but is still an enjoyable listen.
Recommended Tracks in Bold:
1. No Freedom 2. Girl Who Got Away 3. Let Us Move On
4. Blackbird 5. End of Night 6. Sitting on the roof of the world
7. Love to blame 8. Go Dreaming 9. Happy New Year
10. Loveless hearts 11. Day before we went to war
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