AUGUST 2007

15 London, UK, Mermaid Theatre

The Guardian
Sweet Dreams Are Remade By Annie Lennox
Music Review: Annie Lennox Rocks
Raygigs
Does My Bomb Look Big In This

The Guardian

Betty Clarke
Friday August 17, 2007

It was not so long ago that Annie Lennox seemed to be the only British female singer in the world. A towering monolith in a trouser suit, polished, professional and always note-perfect, Lennox was the safest bet in pop.But beneath the Oscar-grabbing poise and endless Brits success, Lennox was a reticent star. Plagued by nerves, she didn't embark on a solo tour until 2003, 11 years after her best-selling debut, Diva. A highlight of the uneven Live 8 charity shebang, she hasn't performed on a stage since.

For this tiny show, recorded for Radio 2, Lennox is accompanied by her band and the BBC Concert Orchestra. The first thing you notice is how young the 53-year-old looks. The second, how nervous she seems. Launching into Little Bird, her voice is as amazing as ever - soulful, rich and soaring effortlessly to a falsetto. She is also surprisingly sexy, singing with a hand on her hip; her slinky dress, worn over black trousers, revealing an impressive cleavage.

Lennox overpowers the orchestra, the brass section barely getting a look in during Walking On Broken Glass, the strings withering under a theatrical No More "I Love You's". Yet she's also as shy as she is undeniably charismatic. "This is a broadcast so we can do songs again and I can make jokes," she says. But she doesn't, instead walking off stage because of a technical hitch.

When she returns, she sits at a piano for a chilling version of Cold, before playing three new songs from her forthcoming album, Songs of Mass Destruction. While Dark Road and Smithereens are nice enough, the gospel soul of Ghosts is most memorable, especially when Lennox and her two backing singers are accompanied only by handclaps and a thudding bass drum.

On Sweet Dreams, the orchestra come into their own, the strings sharpening the biting synths. But it's not until Lennox has to repeat a couple of songs that she relaxes. Chatty, approachable and patient with a heckler, she's visibly looser on Here Comes the Rain Again, and bops about to Little Bird. With the orchestra significantly louder this time, the songs raise the roof. "That's how we do it!" Lennox squeals, punching the air and enjoying her moment at last.

Broadcast on BBC Radio 2 on August 25

Sweet dreams are remade by Annie Lennox

By John Aizlewood
Evening Standard 16.08.07

Here come the Eighties again: but Lennox gives her catalogue an overhaul that is often brilliant

Now a sprightly 52, albeit with the blonde-streaked hair of a 25-year-old, Annie Lennox has been making records for 30 years - and if her work has never been as lauded as Kate Bush's or as influential as Joni Mitchell's, presumably almost 80 million album sales and an Oscar ease the pain of rejection.

Not one of life's workhorses and silent on record since 2004's laboured Bare, with last night's show she marked the dawn of a new campaign for a new record, the surprisingly lissom Songs Of Mass Destruction.

Appropriately for a multi-millionaire, she looked in fine fettle, despite reinventing the mercifully now-unfashionable notion of wearing a skirt over trousers. Perhaps she hasn't been out since 2005.

And perhaps, too, she was nervous, for she was in no mood for banter. A good thing, of course, if the hectoring Caledonian fishwife of yore is forever banished, but a few words or a choice anecdote concerning the old material - has she really no tales to share? - would hardly have scared the horses.

Meanwhile, an explanation of the three new songs she unveiled - the intriguing, stately Dark Road, the very Eighties-style Smithereeens or the finger-clicking Ghosts - might have been wise, not least for when the nation tunes into last night's show (Radio 2, 8pm on 25 August).

Musically, Lennox had a problem too - though not with her voice, which still broods as naturally as Gordon Brown's once she relaxes. As her music will be forever redolent of the Eighties and Nineties, it needs a radical overhaul.

And in this, for the most part assisted by the BBC Concert Orchestra, she succeeded brilliantly, hence the ominous Here Comes The Rain Again, seemingly always destined for orchestration and now transmuted into a glorious swirl. And for a moment there she was almost sexy. Sweet Dreams (Are Made Of This) was given the full orchestral treatment as Lennox borrowed David Bowie's stage moves and wailed her way through the free-form passages with a vim and vigour that suggested this most reluctant of performers was having something approaching a whale of a time.

Even that unheralded rarity, A Thousand Beautiful Things, was an oasis of flamenco-led loveliness. But Cold remained too cold and No More "I Love Yous" was so mannered she might as well have mimed it.

When she jettisoned the orchestra, Lennox shone too. Sisters Are Doin' It For Themselves (the song that seems unaware women are allowed to vote, let alone that they are "Doctors? Lawyers? And politicians too?") was as ludicrous as ever, but featuring only Lennox on piano, plus her two backing singers and taken at a furious pace, it transcended its own stupidity.

Afterwards, to the delight of a cowed crowd, recording difficulties during Here Comes The Rain Again, No More "I Love Yous" and Little Bird meant she had to reprise those songs. On this showing there might just be a reprise for Lennox too - despite herself.

Music review: Annie Lennox Rocks

by Malcolm Mackenzie. Thursday, 16 August 2007

As flawless comebacks go they don’t get much better than this.

She may have been away for a while but at this specially recorded gig for BBC Radio 2 in front of an intimate crowd of fans at The Mermaid Theatre in Blackfriars Annie Lennox did a lot to confirm the old adage about class being timeless.

The 52 year old Scottish singer who found fame with eighties super duo Eurythmics looked amazing in a simple black slip dress, trousers and sequined waistcoat and sounded equally stunning.

She opened uptempo with Little Bird from her 6 million selling album Diva, followed by Walking on Broken Glass and number two hit No More I Love Yous which gave me chills. It may have been for radio but the platinum haired singer sacrificed none of her theatricality.

Lennox who was joined onstage by the impressive BBC Concert orchestra as well as her backing band previewed 3 tracks from her forthcoming album Songs Of Mass Destruction: Smithereens, Ghosts in My Machine and brooding new single Dark Road all of which showcased her superlative Rock N Roll and Soul voice.

Lennox also performed old favourites with new arrangements like Sweet Dreams (Are Made Of This) and Here Comes The Rain Again which drew audible gasps of appreciation at its first notes.

It was a perfect performance, but to quibble, one thing was lacking from the newer material – oomph. Decades after they found fame Kate Bush and Bjork are still as experimental and boundary prodding as ever, if only Annie would grasp back some of the bite and unsettling cutting edge which inspired the likes of Marilyn Manson and made us fall in love with her in the first place.

But this was for Radio 2, the audience were mostly middle aged and she has simply matured with them.

The concert can be heard BBC Radio 2 on Saturday 25th August between 8.00-9.00pm

Raygigs

Annie Lennox With The BBC Concert Orchestra live at The Mermaid Theatre,EC4.
This was an invite only show for 500 comp winners and BBC guests.We were row 3 of this all seated venue.Backed by an orchestra of around 30 Annie played a superb 90 mins show.She has sold over 78 million albums with Eurythmics and solo over the last 30 years and has won awards galore inc grammys,brits and even an oscar.A great mix of hits and a few tracks off soon to be released new album "Songs Of Mass Destruction".From the start her voice was clear and full of passion on "Little Bird","Walking On Broken Glass","No More I Love Yous" then 3 new tracks inc "Dark Road".The orchestration all through the set was great and the two backing singers were perfect. The songs were all taken to a higher level. "I Saved The World Today","Sisters Are Doing It For Themselves","Here Comes The Rain Again" and "Why?"were also excellent.Encores were "Sweet Dreams" and then repeats of "No More I Love Yous","Here Comes The Rain Again" and "Little Bird".A fantastic show and the only downside was there was nobody filming it for BBC TV.Quality. The show is on Radio 2 at 8pm on Sat 25 August.

Does My Bomb Look Big in This

Annie still stunning at age 52
By Rick Fulton

STUNNING Annie Lennox shows she's still got it in a photo-shoot for her new album.

The 52-year-old - glammed up in a black tutu-style dress and a top hat - is surrounded by explosions on the cover of Songs OfMass Destruction.

The mum to two said: "I just think I'm very fortunate to be healthy and my spirit feels a bit ageless and ancient at the same time."

An insider said: "Annie looks like a phoenix rising from the flames. There is introspection in this album but it is also uplifting and very pro-women."

Songs Of Mass Destruction - out on October 1 - will include an all-star line-up on the track Sing. The "feminist anthem" features 23 top female singers including Madonna, Celine Dion and KT Tunstall.

Aberdeen-born Annie - an HIV and AIDS activist - recorded a gig with the BBC Concert Orchestra yesterday that will go out on Radio 2 on August 25.

Annie said she is so busy these days she wishes she could clone herself.

The ex-Eurthymics singer said: "It's not easy trying to balance my family life with my artistry.

"There are so many places and people I'd love to perform."