Today’s Pop Rescue from a fate uncertain, is the 2007 fourth studio solo album Songs Of Mass Destruction by Scottish singer and songwriter, and former Eurythmics singer, Annie Lennox. Will this album bring you peace, or will it be a war upon the ears? Read on…

This 11 track album opens with the soft guitar introduction of lead single Dark Road. Annie is soon in on the microphone with that familiar soft and soulful voice. She sounds wonderfully rich and sombre as the song builds behind her. As this reflective song builds, it allows for her vocals to add warmth and hit some high notes too. It’s a nice gentle track that reminds us of exactly why we’ve loved Annie. At about the 2m 27s point, the track bursts to give us a harder sound with beats and vocal harmonies – and this is a well crafted burst of energy into this track. Unfortunately this returning single failed to see her reach the lofty heights that Annie once recognised in the UK, by stalling at #58.

That’s followed by Love Is Blind, with piano and synths giving us a thumping beat and an almost country music whiff of it. The track is a steady plodder and with vocals roaring wonderfully, flanked by excellent harmonies. The track takes off in the first chorus, and reminds me a little of the vocal power and attitude of Anastacia (more on her later). The track returns to the piano/synth steady stomp, helping to give the track a nice chugging foundation.

Smithereens follows, and this reflective and sadder song brings the tempo down a little. Wandering guitars give an almost dreamy sound, accompanying Annie’s soft and warm vocals in the verse. However, she shows off that unmistakeable power in the chorus where she’s joined by heavier guitars and drums. It’s a nice heartfelt track.

Up next is Ghosts In My Machine, and the initial playful piano makes me thinks of Betty Boo’s Where Are You Baby? hit, but then it switches to a harder more rock/bluesy sound. Here, we find Annie singing with some big soaring vocals again over a chugging track that even drops in a stadium-esque hands-above-your-heads-and-clap moment at the end.

Annie is joined by Nadirah X for next track Womankind. This takes a different sound to it – much more upbeat and with a wonderfully contrasting and well placed Nadirah on rapping duties (she’s also the only co-writer credit on the album). Annie’s vocals here are bright and playful here, and this reminds me a little of the likes of what you might found on her Diva album. This should have been a single.

Through The Glass Darkly follows that, and this is a downbeat track, loaded with shuffling subdued beats and descending chords. Annie’s vocals cut through this with a moodiness that befits it perfectly.

That’s followed by Lost, which is a simple and almost lullaby-esque track with Annie’s tender vocals shining beautifully here. There’s little else that I can say about this lovely little song other than it builds gently and perfectly.

Then it’s on to Coloured Bedspread (not literally), and we’re met by some welcome bouncing, beeping, and gurgling synths and what feels like an Eurythmics flashback from the 1980s. Annie takes on some kind of Shirley Manson (of Garbage) persona as the drum machine drops in a mid-tempo dance beat. It’s a song that is brimming with energy whilst Annie’s vocals have a dreamy yet synthetic value to them. The takes a chaotic mid section before returning back to the softer sound for the finish. I can imagine some fantastic dubs.

Big Sky follows that (despite what the CD artwork says) and here we hear a tiny tinkling piano lead us into another shuffling beat as the piano grows stronger alongside Annie’s vocals, which soar beautifully against the strings. At times, I’m reminded of the descending chords in Neneh Cherry’s Woman hit, and that’s no bad thing.

Contradicting the album artwork again, is Fingernail Moon. This is a soft piano-led track with some really nice rich vocals from Annie as the song slowly builds. We’re back into dreamy-lullaby ballad zone again, but her vocals make it sound magical.

Next up is Sing, an HIV/AIDS charity advocacy and fundraising song in aid of Treatment Action Campaign, featuring 23 female artists, including Madonna who sings a solo in the second verse, but also Anastacia, Angelique Kidjo, Beth Gibbons, Beth Orton, Beverley Knight, Bonnie Raitt, Celine Dion, Dido, Faith Hill, Fergie, Gladys Knight, Isobel Campbell, Joss Stone, K. D. Lang, K. T. Tunstall, Martha Wainwright, Melissa Etheridge, P!nk, Sarah McLachlan, Shakira, Shingai Shoniwa, and Sugababes. Annie and Madonna are clearly audible within this track, but neither do so with an aim to outshine the rest. It is a powerful track that lyrically hits hard, with the chorus of singers that soon give it an anthemic and energetic feeling. This was the second and final single from the album, but unfortunately was mostly ignored – ranking at #161 in the UK singles chart – faring better in the USA and Russia. The album artwork puts this as track 9, but is better suited here as track 11 given its different tone and musical style. The track fades out with a performance by The Generics, celebrating African music.

Verdict

Over all, this album seems to give us three sides to Annie Lennox – the soft, the hard, and the charitable, and whilst not all tracks shine, the balance makes it work.

If you’re expecting the hits from earlier albums Diva or Medusa, then you’re going to be disappointed with this. It’s a later album, and one that sees Annie perhaps making the music that she wants in 2007. She’s the sole writer here, with the exception of Womankind.

The highlights feel like those that are amongst the softer sung tracks like Lost and Big Sky, Through The Glass Darkly, and the Nadirah X collaboration Womankind in which the contrast between Lennox and the rap works a treat.

The lower points, although no stink-face required, are more middle-of-the-road music where the musicianship is slick, but just sound like Annie hired a U2 tribute band to play some music behind her somewhere. These songs have less of a journey, are less memorable and catchy. There’s certainly no No More I Love You’s or Walking On Broken Glass echoes amongst those.

It’s a decent album though, but i’m not sure ‘mass destruction’ of any sort is involved here – it’s just a gentle push against the grain.

• POP RESCUE 2024 RATING: 3 / 5
• 2007 UK ALBUM CHART PEAK: #7, certified Silver by the BPI.
• POP RESCUE COST: 33p from a British Heart Foundation store.

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