Eva Bailey
Earlier this month, dodie released her eagerly anticipated debut album, Build a Problem. From thoughtful, understated reflections to more blatant depictions of the human experience, this stunning showcase of her impeccable lyricism and inspired arrangements prove that she has well and truly made her mark on the UK music scene.
Since she began uploading original music to YouTube in 2011, English singer-songwriter dodie has amassed a following of nearly 2 million on the platform. And it’s easy to see why: as her previous extended plays Intertwined (2016), You (2017) and Human (2019) demonstrate, dodie seems capable of encapsulating emotions that most of us cannot even begin to comprehend.
This emotional intelligence becomes apparent right from the start of the album. As the first few bars of Air So Sweet begin to play, the listener is confronted with dodie’s signature stripped, echoey vocals, before a beat leads us into the single Hate Yourself. The ability to deftly switch from delicate harmonic arrangements to more upbeat, singalong tracks is why I’m such a huge dodie fan. And I think this album perfectly highlights the two sides to dodie’s discography.
“I was particularly blown away by Sorry.”
With this in mind, it’s easy to see why some critics have hailed Special Girl as a stand-out track. The steady percussion throughout the song gives it a determined energy, a stark contrast to the resigned hopelessness that Cool Girl emanates immediately before it. As the song progresses and the timbre thickens, there is an excited, almost carnival-esque feel. It seems far removed from the ‘typical’ dodie sound that listeners have come to expect- though, naturally, layers of vocal harmonies still feature in the chorus.
However, I was particularly blown away by Sorry. Despite its humble beginnings, this song builds into a spell-binding orchestral arrangement, with stunning minor chords that give me goosebumps every time I listen to it. To me, this song feels like an aural representation of intrusive thoughts: the gradual, seemingly endless progression of the melody depicts a downward spiral of anxiety in an unimaginably apt way. And yet, as the opening chords of the next track When begin to play, the listener is reminded of the immense control dodie has over the story-telling experience of the album.
If Sorry represents somebody trapped within their thoughts, When explains the reasons for this entrapment. Originally released on dodie’s Intertwined EP in 2016 as a live recording, this song has long been a favourite of mine. The tragic question in the chorus- “Am I the only one wishing life away?”- seems to nod to dodie’s own experiences with mental health, while also providing comfort to those of us trying to ‘live in the present’ in our fast-paced, modern society. I think there’s a greater maturity to the studio recording on this album: dodie seems more free to play with the timing of each line, with the effect of further delaying the anti-climax of someone who is always waiting for the ‘perfect moment’. The strings perhaps indicate that this idea of perfection is a myth, as they interrupt dodie’s vocals with both questions and answers between verses, before building to stunning crescendos in each chorus. It is for this reason that When is the arrangement I like best on the album.
“No doubt dodie’s next album will be just as eagerly anticipated as her first.”
While it’s true that certain tracks wouldn’t make sense in isolation (namely, the two tracks labelled simply ? and .), it is often difficult to tell when one song ends and another begins, which makes for a stunningly coherent listening experience. With the success of this record and the tantalising possibilities created by the demo tracks at the end, no doubt dodie’s next album will be just as eagerly anticipated as her first.
Featured image courtesy of Oscar Barraza on Unsplash. Image license found here. No changes have been made to this image.
Eva Bailey
Eva is a first year English and French student at the University of Oxford, with a passion for journalism. She is a proud ambassador for the Holocaust Educational Trust and Zero Gravity. She plays the flute and loves musical theatre, as well as diving into a good book!