(4 / 5)
Bill, the record label’s PR man who sent in this album to the magazine’s editor, wrote on a compliments’ slip that it is a “good listen”, and this: “She’s very well known in Denmark and deserves to be in the UK”. Having been asked to review it, I concur with Bill on both points.
“Let’s Escape” is Danish singer, songwriter and musician Dicte’s ninth solo album, featuring 10 new songs; seven penned by Dicte and three were co-writes with multi-instrumentalist Kasper Rasmussen who plays on the record and takes the producer credit.
There is a top end crew of A-List Danish musicians assembled for this project, with Dicte taking all lead vocals, and some guitar and percussion.
Themes explored here vary from the beginning to the end of life, “and the important stuff in between” – with perhaps a spirit of the 1970s wafting across the tracks, and subtle nods to Dicte’s influences she grew up with in the 70s such as Bowie, Blondie and Stevie Wonder.
The genre of this set of songs is listed as “rock, pop and singer-songwriter”. But it is a much broader church than that and is best heard before sticking labels on it to restrict the audience it will receive.
Her voice sounds like a much, much younger singer; like a teenager or someone in their 20s, one of those times you do not expect the voice you hear to be coming out of the body and person you see; in this case, a 57-year-old.
It’s pretty quirky and puts me in mind of the wonderful Scottish singer and actress, Claire Grogan of the 1980s band Altered Images. At times, Dicte also sounds a wee bit like Macy Gray’s timbre.
My faves of the album: Opener “Mobil Home” (spelled as it is on the record’s track list), an upbeat song with a modern indie sound, where the guitars sound lovely and Dicte’s unusual vocal is pretty inviting as an opening gambit of the 10 tracks.
Next up, “Cry Wolf”, which would not be out of place on a Bond movie soundtrack. Third track, “Shoot A Hole In The World”, maybe kind of early Blondie vibes, before a bit of an Amy Winehouse flavour on “Bring Back My Man”.
So, how does Dicte describe the new songs on this record, we ask? “My new album is about learning to soar and live strong. Creating a life where you take destiny into your own hands. A life where you don’t submit to other people’s notions of love and happiness”.
She adds: “The common denominator on ‘Let’s Escape’ is learning to float. Instead of weighing my kids down with worries, I want to show them it’s possible to soar in the face of sometimes challenging relationships….”
Benedicte Westergaard Madsen, aka Dicte, was born in 1966, and Janis Joplin was her first influence. Still in her teens, Benedicte joined the band Farandol,a and then other bands in Aarhus, Denmark, before forming “Her Personal Pain” in 1989, with whom she toured and recorded.
The debut solo album by Dicte was released in 1994, and apart from her solo work, she has released material under the names of Dicte & Dub Tractor and Benedicte & The Sugarbones.
Dicte has also acted in films and theatre, and in 1998 she composed the soundtrack to the play “House Of The Double Axe”, with all Latin lyrics.
By Andy Faith
(1 / 5) ‘Dull Zone’
(2 / 5) ‘OK Zone’
(3 / 5) ‘Decent Zone’ (4 / 5) ‘Super Zone’
(5 / 5) ‘Awesome Zone’
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