If you ever tried your hand at song-writing while at school or college, the chances are that you would cringe if you read them back a few years later. A decade from now, Des’ree will be going through exactly the same emotions with her new single, "It’s Okay". Although it has admiral intentions, some neat lines and is laden with Christian values, "It’s Okay" has the biggest collection of weak lyrics and embarrassing rhymes that I have heard in a long time. Taking into account this terrible three minute ordeal, it’s amazing that it was picked to be the first single and pioneer the way on Radio 2 for Des’ree’s new album, Dream Soldier.

The choice for her first single in four years is even more remarkable when you listen to the rest of the album because it’s not half as horrendous at all, as you may find out when it hits the shops on March 31. Things soon start to pick up with the pleasant "Why?" and "Righteous Right" before a rather subdued "Doesn’t Matter", a song which explores the similar day-to-day stresses as "It’s Okay".

The string opening to "Human" and the electric sounds that follow it lead to an interesting track half way through the CD, while "Something Special" and "Nothing To Lose" keep the momentum going. And the last track is a much more favourable version of "It’s Okay". Dream Soldier is packed full of simplistic tunes, minimalistic music and seems to rely more on the voice of Des’ree than ever before. So it’s just as well that the vocals on this album are up to scratch, even if fans will cry out for deeper lyrics to cover the already deep subject matter and an injection of excitement into the music to give the experience a bit of a boost.

Will Dream Soldier re-establish Des’ree as a force to be reckoned with after such a long period away? I think it will be a struggle for her to keep up with the changes in the music industry because even after only four years Des’ree is already sounding out of date and only fit for Sunday mornings. In the past, Des’ree has sold over 5 million albums around the world, won two Ivor Novello award and performed headlining tours in Europe and the US. But producers Kevin Bacon and Jonathan Quarmby have not battled hard enough to bring Dream Soldier out of his shell. He stays hidden away inside the CD cover, allowing us to reflect on past successes that Des’ree has had, such as "You Gotta Be" and "Life". This will shatter no records and sit proudly only on a limited amount of British coffee tables. We’ve heard it before, and it is nice in parts. But after a while ‘nice’ becomes ‘sickly’ and ‘sickly’ has you reaching for the bucket.
28-Feb-2003 10:47 AM

If you liked Dream Catcher...

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