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Bare, Annie Lennox’s third solo album and her first album of original songs since 1992’s Diva, is a longing, poetic, and mature album that Lennox says "reveal[s] aspects of an inner world which are fragile." It’s a beautiful and challenging piece of work—reflective, thoughtful, introspective, and passionate. To compare it to Annie’s most familiar songs, it’s much more akin to the lush, longing ballad "Why" than to the equally lovely but more straightforward pop of "Walking on Broken Glass."

To understand where Lennox is coming from with these songs, the cover is a good place to start. In fact, the striking front cover image is so important to the experience of the music that the back cover features a mini-essay from Annie on why she has chosen to appear, in her words, "bare…though not entirely exposed" in a display of artistic integrity and authenticity. In this explanation, Lennox sets forth her vision for the album, and her brief artist’s statement informs the listening experience without squelching the listener’s imagination. She calls these eleven songs "deeply personal and emotional" and refers to herself as "a mature woman facing up to the failed expectations of life and facing up to ‘core’ issues." 

Lennox’s allusion to "the failed expectations of life" might make listeners wary. Wouldn’t such an album be dour and depressing, one could ask, and haven’t artists from Joni Mitchell to Marianne Faithfull already done that? Answers: not necessarily, and yes, but no one has done it with the adventurous spirit and powerful voice of Annie Lennox. True, Bare’s lyrics are often downbeat, but the sadness is usually tempered by acceptance of surrounding imperfections or defiant hope. In lead track "A Thousand Beautiful Things," for instance, Lennox sings, 

Every day I write the list
Of reasons why I still believe they do exist,
A thousand beautiful things.
And even though it’s hard to see
The glass is full and not half empty
A thousand beautiful things.

She has the sad songs, though—just take a look at the song titles ("Twisted," "Bitter Pill," "The Saddest Song I’ve Got"). Her sadness, in the background for most of Bare, takes center stage on the final track, a sparse ballad called "Oh God (Prayer)," in which Annie sings, "If you can see me, I know I can’t be that strong, ‘cause everything I ever did went wrong." It’s a lovely moment because it displays a major theme of the album—beauty within vulnerability—or as Lennox puts it, she feels "broken through experience, but not entirely smashed." When such a song is juxtaposed with more hopeful but equally thoughtful songs like "A Thousand Beautiful Things," it’s clear just how balanced the lyrical material is and what a wide emotional range appears on the album. The musical mood moves with ease from content to broken, strong to vulnerable.

The captivating, soulful voice of Annie Lennox sounds as beautiful as ever, and on a few tracks (most notably "Honestly"), vocal overdubs and countermelodies only emphasize the beauty of her versatile voice, which is easily the most commanding instrument on the album. The other instrumentation is lovely and fairly lush throughout, but it’s at its best on "The Hurting Time," a 7½-minute long quiet storm-leaning ballad led by a sweltering synth line. 

The record’s only real weakness is its lack of memorable melodies. There are few hooks in these songs, even in the beautiful lead single "Pavement Cracks." Unlike Annie’s work with the Eurythmics or her earlier solo releases, these are not the hummable chorus-and-verse pop tunes you’ll walking around the house whistling, at least not immediately. On the other hand, it’s clear that lyrics and instrumentation are the focus here anyway, not melodies. Furthermore, you get the feeling that she’s not going for bigtime pop success with this album either. 

All in all, Bare is a lovely album that truly lets its singer take center stage. Annie Lennox’s gorgeous voice drives the album, and it’s evident that its songs are rooted in personal experience. Fans of intelligent and emotional adult pop with a heavy dose of soul should enjoy this disc from this fearless artist whose reputation as a great songwriter and greater singer should only continue to grow.

Matthew Luter 6/22/03