Fridae

Born with tongue-tripping moniker of Dido Florian Cloud de Bounevialle Armstrong and named after an African warrior queen, Dido's No Angel sold millions of copies worldwide and won rave reviews from music critics and fans alike - a feat that is almost as rare as public sightings of Ricky Martin with a woman on his arm.

Since the release of her debut album, Dido with her Lilith Fair-lite ditties has always been regarded as the musical equivalent of chick lit. For her eagerly awaited follow-up entitled Life For Rent, Dido has wisely decided to play it safe by taking a leaf out of the Suzanne Vega's school of song-writing and showcasing her crystalline and evocative voice - again.

Filled with well-crafted folk-pop tunes of the down tempo variety, Dido's latest album is a collaboration with former Madonna collaborator Nick Nowels and brother Rollo Armstrong (Faithless). With a total of 11 listed tracks and one hidden track, the mellow and melodious Life For Rent is guaranteed to soothe the listening palette of any stressed-out queen.

Singing about advice column type topics such as an ended love affair ("White Flag"), a lover's row ("Stoned"), infidelity and betrayal ("Mary's In India"), a holiday romance ("Sand In My Shoes"), the inability to settle down ("Life For Rent") etc., the album will definitely appeal to the Bridget Jones posse.

The standout tracks in Life For Rent includes the first single "White Flag" which is easily the best track of the album and gets better with every listen, as well as "This Land Is Mine" with its put-your-hands-up-in-the-air-and-sway chorus that rivals even "I'd Like To Teach The World To Sing (In Perfect Harmony)."

However, with the exception of the abovementioned songs, the rest of Life For Rent lacks the immediate melodic hooks of "Here With Me" and "Thank You." In fact, after repeated listens, even Ms Scary with her well-shaped and highly attuned ear for music finds it impossible to distinguish one song from another.

Having said that, Ms Scary still finds Life For Rent a welcome respite from all the manufactured adolescent drivel currently flooding the market from one-trick pop ponies and is even willing to bet her Burberry mini-kilt that the album will be another massive sellout hit for Dido.

Now all that stands between Ms Dido Armstrong and total pop domination is her unfortunate ability to sound like Sarah McLachlan's more subdued younger sister - albeit one with a slight nasal congestion.