Brian Eno is MORE DARK THAN SHARK

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The Herald Sun FEBRUARY 27, 2013 - by Cameron Adams

DIDO'S NEW ALBUM A BORING DOOZY

How do you make serial experimenter Brian Eno sound dull? Put him on a Dido album.

Eno co-wrote one track on Dido's fourth album, Day Before We Went to War.

He's pushed Coldplay out of their comfort zone but save for some "enoxification" in the form of bleeps and subtle strings, his Dido co-write is a sweet tune that doesn't go anywhere - but could easily slip onto an Enya record.

So nothing much has changed in Didoland.

Since her last album she's had a child - named Stan - which is a nice shout-out to the Eminem track that made her famous.

So-hot-right-now rapper Kendrick Lamar surfaces on Let Us Move On - easily the most exciting and unexpected moment here.

His emotional vocals are a welcome relief after Dido's pleasant but static range. She's also roped in Jeff Bhasker to do, well, pretty much what he did on the Lana Del Rey album - but, alas, just on that one track.

When Dido breaks out of merely working with brother Rollo (who has time on his hand after Faithless ended) envelopes are nudged. Oh-so gently.

Pop master Greg Kurstin whips up a very polite electronic storm for End Of Night, while the dark vibe he creates on Happy New Year suits all concerned. Urban producer P*nut is responsible for Love To Blame, which is as funky as Dido's ever sounded. It's still about as pumping as a retirement home disco.

Rollo dusts off some inoffensive beats (think a pulseless Faithless) for the title track where Dido tells us: "I wanna move with the seasons and go with the flow and take it easy, let stuff go. I wanna sleep like a baby, rise with the sun."

This is almost as fascinating as Blackbird, which starts with the lyrical revelation: "He put the coffee in the cup and with milk he filled it up, he added sugar and I never knew he liked it like that."

No one expected Dido to turn in a dubstep record. But how many more times can Dido serve up fifty shades of beige?