''Girl Who Got Away'' is the fourth studio album by English recording artist

Dido Dido ( ; , ), also known as Elissa ( , ), was the legendary founder and first queen of the Phoenician city-state of Carthage (located in modern Tunisia), in 814 BC. In most accounts, she was the queen of the Phoenician city-state of Tyre (t ...

, released in Europe on 4 March 2013, and in North America on 26 March 2013 by

RCA Records RCA Records is an American record label currently owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside RCA's former long-time rival Columbia Records; also A ...

. The album serves as the follow-up to 2008's ''

Safe Trip Home ''Safe Trip Home'' is the third studio album by Dido. It was released in the United Kingdom on 17 November 2008.London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

and

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

. Dido served as a co-producer for the album and enlisted help from a variety of producers including

Jeff Bhasker Jeff Bhasker (born March 4, 1974) is an American record producer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist based in Los Angeles. He was awarded the Grammy Award for Producer of the Year in 2016 and nominated in 2013. An accomplished producer, he ...

Jon Brion Jon Brion is an American singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, record producer, and composer. He performed with the Excerpts, the Bats, 'Til Tuesday and the Grays before becoming an established producer and film score composer. Brion has ...

Greg Kurstin Gregory Allen Kurstin (born May 14, 1969) is an American record producer, multi-instrumentalist, and songwriter. He has won nine Grammy Awards, including Producer of the Year, Non-Classical in 2017 and 2018, and written and produced four songs ...

Rick Nowels Richard Wright Nowels Jr. is an American songwriter, record producer, multi-instrumentalist and arranger. He has co-written and co-produced over 90 hit singles with multiple artists Plain Pat Patrick Reynolds, professionally known as Plain Pat, is an American music executive, record producer, songwriter and disc jockey (DJ). He is perhaps best known for overseeing American musicians Kanye West and Kid Cudi, during their respective ...

Rollo Rollo ( nrf, Rou, ''Rolloun''; non, Hrólfr; french: Rollon; died between 928 and 933) was a Viking who became the first ruler of Normandy, today a region in northern France. He emerged as the outstanding warrior among the Norsemen who had se ...

, among others. Musically the album is a pop album with elements of electropop and

trip hop Trip hop (sometimes used synonymously with " downtempo") is a musical genre that originated in the early 1990s in the United Kingdom, especially Bristol. It has been described as a psychedelic fusion of hip hop and electronica with slow tem ...

. ''Girl Who Got Away'' received generally positive reviews from music critics, who complimented "folky midtempo melody" and Dido's vocal performances, while others stated that the album didn't "break any new ground". The album fared well commercially: it debuted at number five in the United Kingdom, Dido's fourth album to do so. The album peaked at number one on the Swiss Romandie album charts, at number two on the Swiss and German album charts and at number thirty two on the US ''Billboard'' 200. The album also charted within the top twenty of the Australian, Irish and New Zealand charts. The album was preceded by promotional single "

Let Us Move On "Let Us Move On" is a song by English singer Dido. It features the vocals from American rapper Kendrick Lamar. The song was released in the United Kingdom on 17 December 2012 as a promotional single from her fourth studio album '' Girl Who Got A ...

" featuring

Kendrick Lamar Kendrick Lamar Duckworth (born June 17, 1987) is an American rapper and songwriter. Known for his progressive musical styles and socially conscious songwriting, he is often considered one of the most influential hip hop artists of his generat ...

, whilst the album's lead single "

No Freedom "No Freedom" is a song by English recording artist Dido (singer), Dido. The song was released on 18 January 2013 as the lead single from her fourth studio album ''Girl Who Got Away'' (2013). The song was written and produced by Dido (singer), Di ...

" was released in January 2013 and charted at number fifty-one on the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

. The second single " End of Night" was released in May 2013, however the single failed to chart at all in the United Kingdom but did make appearances on the Belgium charts. To further promote the album Dido did a series of live performances and radio shows making appearances on '' Jimmy Kimmel Live!'', ''

Heart London History Heart London is a regional radio station owned and operated by Global Radio as part of the Heart network. It broadcasts a hot adult contemporary radio format. Across London and its neighbouring counties, it can be heard on 106.2 MHz. ...

'', ''

Magic Radio Magic Radio is a British digital radio station owned and operated by Bauer. The station is available on 105.4 FM in London and across the UK on Digital Radio, on the Magic Radio app, television and online. It had previously been a part of a ...

'', and '' BBC Radio 2''.

Background

Dido revealed shortly after the release of ''

Safe Trip Home ''Safe Trip Home'' is the third studio album by Dido. It was released in the United Kingdom on 17 November 2008.Everything to Lose "Everything to Lose" is a song released by British singer Dido, as the only single taken from the soundtrack of the motion picture ''Sex and the City 2'' and premiered on Dido's official YouTube channel on 9 May 2010. The song was premiered on rad ...

", and the track was released via digital download, having previously appeared on the ''

Sex and the City 2 ''Sex and the City 2'' is a 2010 American romantic comedy film written, co-produced, and directed by Michael Patrick King. It is the sequel to the 2008 film ''Sex and the City'', based on the 1998–2004 television series. Sarah Jessica Parker, ...

'' soundtrack. In January 2011, Dido unveiled a second brand new track, " If I Rise", teaming up with producer A.R. Rahman for the track, for which an official music video was released. Dido announced via her official website that the recording of the album had taken place in both

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

and

, and that some of the material had been recorded in her own hotel room, with a

keyboard Keyboard may refer to: Text input * Keyboard, part of a typewriter * Computer keyboard ** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping ** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware Music * Musi ...

and a microphone. She also described the album as a "big, fun, electronic extravaganza".

Music and songs

The opening track and lead single "

" opens with plaintive acoustic guitar and was penned with

Rick Nowels Richard Wright Nowels Jr. is an American songwriter, record producer, multi-instrumentalist and arranger. He has co-written and co-produced over 90 hit singles with multiple artists White Flag White flags have had different meanings throughout history and depending on the locale. Contemporary use The white flag is an internationally recognized protective sign of truce or ceasefire, and for negotiation. It is also used to symbolize ...

" (2003). Guitars strum gently, the tempo is mid, and Dido informs her man that their relationship can't flourish unless she's free to wander. On the title track, synthesizer chords puff gentle syncopations as Dido wishes she could be "the girl who got away", shifting and twirling in a slow dance through electronic caresses and the subtlest touches of strings. In the chorus, she sings, "I wanna move with the seasons/And go with the flow". Dido finds guests to keep her current, like

, whose rap tears through the conciliatory "Let Us Move On", a spooked

song. The looping intro and muted snares on "Blackbird" are leveled off by her detached vocal and reassuringly familiar lyrics about the darker side of love ("Why do I bring you love, when all you give me back is pain?", she sings). While "End of Night", co-written by

, has a chorus that echoes out through a flittering line of synth thrills, with Kurstin sending electropop keyboards percolating through the bitter kiss-off to a past lover. "Sitting on the Roof of the World" carried by folky guitar picking, reflects on sudden pop success and "not knowing how I got there or how to leave," insisting that she'd rather just "fit in" to everyday life. It offers a sobering moment of reflection, and a host of possible allusions to Dido's experiences within the music industry: "Everyone says I was lucky to have got there/ as not many can/ I’d be lying if I said I didn't miss it now and then." "Love to Blame" features "finger-clicking brass" and it includes the line "there's time enough for new things yet," over "pleasingly wobbly low end", a smart instrumental section and all manner of odd bleeping effects. "Go Dreaming", which vows to rise above bullying, moves with a rubbery bassline pushing the track forward as it falls deeper into a well of electronica., while "Happy New Year" features descending bass line and trip hop backbeat, with the singer missing an ex who may be absent or dead, and "Loveless Heart" is epitomised by a vast, sweeping scope, and talks about creeping up and under the defences we’ve put around our feelings, all in an effort to cope in a hectic, modern world. And in "Day Before We Went to War," with keyboards from Brian Eno, Dido sets personal moping aside to come up with a genuine enigma: an eerily pretty vision of mass destruction.

Marketing

The album's official artwork was released on 9 January 2013. On 17 December 2012 Dido released "

" featuring

as the first and only

promotional single A promotional recording, or promo, or plug copy, is an audio or video recording distributed free, usually in order to promote a recording that is or soon will be commercially available. Promos are normally sent directly to broadcasters, such as ...

from the album. "No Freedom" was unveiled as the

lead single A lead single (also known as a debut single) is the first single to be released from a studio album by an artist or a band, usually before the album itself is released and also occasionally on the same day of the album's release date. Release s ...

from ''Girl Who Got Away'' on BBC Radio 2 at 11.30 am GMT on 11 January 2013. The music video for the song was directed by Ethan Lader. The single was released on 18 January. " End of Night" was released as the official second single from the album on 5 May 2013. In December 2012, Dido gave an acoustic performance of songs from the album and her older material for '' Live from Abbey Road''. The following month, Dido performed for a select crowd of record label executives and media in Mayfair. On 20 February 2013, Dido performed "

" and "

White Flag White flags have had different meanings throughout history and depending on the locale. Contemporary use The white flag is an internationally recognized protective sign of truce or ceasefire, and for negotiation. It is also used to symbolize ...

" on '' Jimmy Kimmel Live!''. A day later, Dido appeared on

Nic Harcourt Nic Harcourt (born September 23, 1957) is an English-born American radio and television presenter, producer, and journalist best known as the former Music Director and on-air presenter for the Santa Monica, California-based radio station KCRW. Har ...

KCRW KCRW (89.9 MHz FM) is a National Public Radio member station broadcasting from the campus of Santa Monica College in Santa Monica, California, where the station is licensed. KCRW airs original news and music programming in addition to program ...

radio show "Morning Becomes Eclectic". In late February, Dido appeared on numerous British radio programs promoting the album such as

, and BBC Radio 2. On 27 February, the full album was available for streaming on Digital Spy. Dido also appeared on Norwegian-Swedish television talk show Skavlan and British daytime television programme This Morning.

Critical reception

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...

, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an

average In ordinary language, an average is a single number taken as representative of a list of numbers, usually the sum of the numbers divided by how many numbers are in the list (the arithmetic mean). For example, the average of the numbers 2, 3, 4, 7 ...

score of 59 based on 12 reviews. Stephen Thomas Erlewine of

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databa ...

gave the album 4 (out of 5 stars), writing that, "while her last album, ''

Safe Trip Home ''Safe Trip Home'' is the third studio album by Dido. It was released in the United Kingdom on 17 November 2008. praising Dido for "adapting to her gently shifting surroundings, feeling perfectly at home in this neon-streaked production, savouring how it swings from understated but insistent beats to a soft acoustic bed. Perhaps it's lifestyle music, designed to reflect the aspirations and desires of her audience, but it's impeccably executed and slyly seductive lifestyle music." Robert Copsey of '' Digital Spy'' gave the album four out of five stars praising the "pleasantly folky midtempo melody and sleepy vocal" as well as the album's "unexpected and – whisper it – dancier direction". Caroline Sullivan of ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' called "a Dido album that doesn't induce a desire to listen to something else," calling it "surprisingly interesting." Laurence Green of '' musicOMH'' wrote that, "As an album, it doesn't break any new ground --it doesn't try to. What it does do though is sweep itself up in a groundswell of beautiful, heart-tugging nostalgia so strong it's as if 2003 lies just beyond the window again, shimmering in the haze of the morning dew." Nick Levine of ''

BBC Music BBC Music is responsible for the music played across the BBC. The current director of music is Bob Shennan, who is also the controller of BBC Radio 2, BBC Radio 6 Music, and the BBC Asian Network. Officially it is a part of the BBC's Radio ...

'' gave a favourable review, writing that, "Admittedly, the album contains the odd soporific song like ''

'', but these turns are outweighed by tracks with a strong tune or an unexpected hint of sadness. Certainly, there's enough going on here to make the naysayers feel guilty for blurting out that b-word." Andy Johnson of ''

PopMatters ''PopMatters'' is an international online magazine of cultural criticism that covers aspects of popular culture. ''PopMatters'' publishes reviews, interviews, and essays on cultural products and expressions in areas such as music, television, fi ...

'' gave the album 4 (out of 10 stars), writing that Dido's new moves on the album, "tend to feel half-baked, under-exploited or, in the case of

's appearance on '

', just a bit hackneyed." For Andy Gill of ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publish ...

'', "it ticks along unremarkably on smudges of synthesiser and shuffling drum programmes, augmented by acoustic guitar or synthetic brass stabs."

Commercial performance

''Girl Who Got Away'' made it into the top 5 of seven album charts, being Dido's fourth album to do so in the United Kingdom. On the

UK Albums Chart The Official Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales and (from March 2015) audio streaming in the United Kingdom. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the Official Charts ...

, the album debuted at number 5, becoming her fourth top-five album, but her lowest charting album (all of her previous albums, peaked inside the top-three). In France, the album charted higher, debuting and peaking at number 3, matching the same position of her previous album, ''

Safe Trip Home ''Safe Trip Home'' is the third studio album by Dido. It was released in the United Kingdom on 17 November 2008.Life for Rent ''Life for Rent'' is the second studio album by English singer Dido, released by Arista Records on 29 September 2003. The album was produced by her brother Rollo Armstrong and American songwriter Rick Nowels. Work on the album began in mid-20 ...

'', (2003). The album also peaked at number 2 on the Swiss Albums Chart, however it broke her strike of consecutive number-one albums (with ''Life for Rent'' and ''Safe Trip Home''), becoming her only album to not reach the number-one position, alongside her debut album, ''

No Angel ''No Angel'' is the debut studio album by English singer-songwriter Dido. Originally released on 1 June 1999 in the United States, the album found a mass audience when it was released worldwide in February 2001. By 2003, the album had sold mo ...

'', (1999). Nevertheless, the album peaked at number 1 in the French-speaking part of Switzerland (Romandie). In Australia, the album only managed to peak at number 12, becoming her only album to miss the top ten. In Canada, it peaked at number 10, becoming her fourth consecutive top-ten album, but also her lowest charting album. In the United States, the album only peaked at number 32, becoming her first album to miss the top-twenty and, subsequently, her lowest charting album.

Track listing

Credits adapted from the album's

liner notes Liner notes (also sleeve notes or album notes) are the writings found on the sleeves of LP record albums and in booklets that come inserted into the compact disc jewel case or the equivalent packaging for cassettes. Origin Liner notes are desc ...

Chart performance

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Release history

References

{{Authority control Dido (singer) albums 2013 albums Synth-pop albums by English artists RCA Records albums Albums produced by Greg Kurstin Albums produced by Plain Pat Albums produced by Rollo Armstrong