Songs Of Mass Destruction

Annie Lennox’s fourth solo album in 15 years, 'Songs of Mass Destruction' is not as overtly political as the title suggests. It tackles all the big issues — war, the environment and HIV/Aids — but in a way that is so subtle and personal it's easy to forget that, at some level, all 11 tracks on the album are in fact protest songs.

The album, which is produced by Glen Ballard (Alanis Morissette and Dave Matthews Band), intersperses upbeat tracks reminiscent of Lennox’s Eurythmics days with slower, more haunting ballads of her solo career.

Although each of the tracks has its own distinctive sound (whether it is the blues/funk sound of 'Love is Blind' or the soul/gospel refrain in 'Sing'), the album is held together by Lennox's clear, powerful vocals. Undoubtedly the most important instrument on the album, her unmistakable three-octave voice takes you on a journey to the depths of despair and then lifts you up again in a wave of hope that can only be seen as a testament to the resilience of the human spirit.

Lennox’s poignant, carefully-crafted lyrics — such as those in 'Lost': "This is the sound of those murderous drums/ The marching of footsteps/ The twisting of thumbs" and 'Dark Road': "All the fires of destruction are still/ Burnin’ in my dreams/ There’s no water that can wash away/ This longin’ to come clean" — add depth to the slickly-produced collection.

The album has a strong theme of female emancipation, which crops up in 'Ghosts In My Machine', 'Womankind' and 'Sing'. The only overtly "activist" track on the album, 'Sing' is a call for the implementation of HIV/Aids mother to child transmission prevention programmes in South Africa.

The song features a choir of 23 big names such as Madonna, Celine Dion, Dido, Shakira, Joss Stone and Pink as well as a refrain from The Generics’ album 'Jikilele'. Putting her money where her mouth is, Lennox has donated the proceeds from the downloading of the song to the Treatment Action Campaign.

In the face of the mind-numbing garbage that's churned out of the global pop machine, it is difficult to find fault with the finely-tuned and meaningful voice of Annie Lennox. Not a particularly prolific artist, you get the sense that she only speaks (or sings) when she has something worth saying.