Happy 30th Anniversary to Annie Lennox’s debut solo album Diva, originally released in the UK April 6, 1992 and in the US April 28, 1992.
When you think of the great female singers of the modern era, names like Aretha, Nina, Janis, Ella, Mariah, and Whitney all come to mind. Often overlooked, but just as worthy, is the soulful and emotive voice of Annie Lennox. As the indie-pop darling fronting The Tourists in the late 1970s before claiming her place in pop history in all of her androgenous glory as the heart and soul of Eurythmics, Lennox showcased the depth and richness of her voice on such varied songs as “Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This),” “There Must Be An Angel (Playing With My Heart)” and “When Tomorrow Comes.”
Following the temporary hiatus of Eurythmics in 1990, Lennox withdrew from the limelight to assess her next steps. During her pregnancy and the birth of her daughter, the restless Lennox found herself filling in time composing and exploring what a solo offering from one half of a pop duo powerhouse might sound like.
The result was Diva, Lennox’s 1992 debut album that dripped with infectious melodies and soulful vocals. Time away from the limelight had allowed Lennox to reflect on the allure of fame, her place in it, and the Faustian arrangement it often represented. How much of herself was she willing to sacrifice, and under whose terms?
There is a natural warmth and allure at play throughout Diva, as Lennox relishes her time of reflection. From the haunting and repentant album opener (and lead single) “Why?,” Lennox invites us into her inner sanctum and lays out all her anxiety, fears, and deepest thoughts for us to find comfort in.
Most at home behind a piano, Lennox uses the instrument to create intimacy between artist and listener. Each track is built around her simple yet expressive playing, letting the notes cascade like reflective jewels giving a glimpse at a new emotion.
With Diva, she creates a musical journey that allows her to spread her wings with music that had a vast emotional span to wrap around the listener.
Whether it’s the upbeat calypso-meets-baroque sense of impending disaster expressed in “Walking on Broken Glass” or the trip-hop backed “Stay By Me” that pleads for understanding and acceptance, her voice remains sweet and intoxicating. In particular, the layering of the backing vocals, a Lennox Chorus if you will, offers such beautiful hues and richness that it envelops you and draws you deeper into the track. All delivered with a sense of empathy and unity at play.
It's Lennox’s delivery that saves songs that could have easily drifted into the saccharine in the hands of a lesser performer. Her joy of motherhood is present in “Precious” and the track brims with sentimentality, but she lets it bubble just beneath the surface rather than overflow and take out everything in its wake. By doing so, she transforms the track into a soulful rendering of fulfillment and swaddles it inside a funk inspired dance grove that opens the song up to be about more than just motherhood and can express a sense of being saved that is present in all meaningful relationships. Likewise, on “Money Can’t Buy It” Lennox discards all the trappings and excesses of fame for the promise of fulfillment found in love, keeping things this side of preachy and making it feel more like an honest reassessment we can all get behind.
On tracks like “Legend in My Living Room” she deconstructs fame and its empty promises with an autobiographical bent, noting the futility in any acclaim or anointing of one’s legendary status (no matter how deserved it might be in this case.)
Even with her pop sensibilities on full display, Lennox is still willing to color outside the lines and see what exists on the other side of the lines, as evident on tracks like “Primitive” and “Little Bird.” Lyrically poetic, “Primitive” has her reflecting on issues of love, life, and death, painting a beautiful portrait of longing and the preciousness of life. And on “Little Bird”—one of the album’s many standouts—she contrasts the feeling of being weighed down by the struggles and restrictions of modern living with the freedom of a fledgling bird taking flight for the first time. A metaphor for the weighty expectations of her first solo outing and her desire to “put these wings to test” and see where they will take her. And again, it’s her voice that carries the song to its lofty heights and swoops the listener up for the ride.
And take flight she did. With Diva, Annie Lennox re-established herself as an artist, presenting an album filled with expressive and emotive vocals that connect with your heart to either tug at it or inspire it to swell.
It remains a potent and powerful album, filled with riches and warmth that offer a reprieve and safe harbor from the goings-on of the world around us. At moments empowering and others self-doubting, it’s an album that has lost none of its shine over the years and remains one the strongest albums of the ‘90s.
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