After changing the face of pop in the neon lit haze of the eighties, Annie Lennox has well and truly established her own identity beyond that of her former role as one half of the Eurythmics. On studio album number four the bleached baroness is found wailing on the masses, soap box in tow.

It’s a fine line for any artist to take really; when so many listeners invest in music as an escape from reality, confronting them with a blacker slice of the world than they had originally been wanting to side-step is a ballsy move to say the least.

From The war in Iraq to Africa’s non-existent health system, Lennox wields her spotlight with menacing frankness; thankfully, it’s all packaged in one of the most engaging and instantly recognisable voices in modern music, making the message almost digestible and fit for mainstream consumption.

Opening with the powerful drive of Dark Road, Songs of Mass Destruction avoids settling into complacency mixing push with pull for the majority of the record. The cacophony of guest performers on Sing somehow manages to hold under its own obese scope and construction, and the blue tones bleed through rather nicely on tracks like Ghosts in My Machine and Love is Blind.

While not every track is worthy of basking in the creators legacy, the numerous highlights make the album a worthy addition to any fans collection; beyond that let’s remember that Lennox is still trying to create music as opposed to wallpaper, an ambition that must be applauded.