Safe Trip Home [CD/DVD]

It's taken nine years and two tries, but Dido has finally given her debut the follow-up it deserves.

There isn't a standout single, but this is Dido's most fully realized and elegantly rendered collection.

It's taken nine years and two tries, but Dido has finally given her debut the follow-up it deserves.

There isn't a standout single, but this is Dido's most fully realized and elegantly rendered collection.

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.

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.

Dido's voice is so comforting, you almost miss the blues it conceals.

Dido's voice is so comforting, you almost miss the blues it conceals.

It's potentially affecting stuff, and the gentleness of the production--several songs sound as though they were recorded by candlelight--heightens the atmosphere of desolation and fragility. The problem is Dido's soft voice: it's so lacking in expressiveness that words and emotions drift by, too wan to strike home.

It's potentially affecting stuff, and the gentleness of the production--several songs sound as though they were recorded by candlelight--heightens the atmosphere of desolation and fragility. The problem is Dido's soft voice: it's so lacking in expressiveness that words and emotions drift by, too wan to strike home.