Dido

Credit: Didomusic.com

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Dido has a voice that seems to float ethereally above the notes. It works best when it’s tethered to the ground by an opposing vocals such as on Eminem’s “Stan,” which used her song “Thank You.” *

Here, on Dido’s new song “Let Us Move On,” Kendrick Lamar’s gruff rap fills that role.

[More after the jump...]

The tune, from Dido’s forthcoming March release, features her lilting, placid vocal about moving on and letting a feeling pass over a  simple drum track on the track produced by Dido’s brother Rollo and Jeff Bhasker. 

Just as the listener begins to feel beautifully hypnotized by the meditation, Lamar comes in to reinforce the feeling of forward momentum.  “Cause i can make the decision to let it all go away before I ever go astray,” he raps.

Unlike so many songs where the rap feels like it bears absolutely no relation to the song, Lamar’s words fit in beautifully with this homily about acceptance and moving on.

Though the song was recorded long before some recent tragic events, listening to it has a soothing quality that certain helps calm shattered nerves.

*As NPR's Ann Powers points out here,  Emimem and Dido's pairing on "Stan" ushered in the movement of rappers using softer feminine voices as a counterpoint. It took several more years for it to become ubiquitous, but it's interesting to note the song as the breakthrough for what was to come.

What do you think?