Life for Rent is the second studio album by English singer
Dido, released by
Arista Records on 29 September 2003. The album was produced by her brother
Rollo Armstrong and American songwriter
Rick Nowels. Work on the album began in mid-2002.[2] It was certified 9×
Platinum by the
BPI,[3] and sold over 12 million copies worldwide, making it the fourth best-selling album worldwide of 2003.[4] The album became the
seventh best-selling album of the 2000s in the United Kingdom, making Dido the only singer to have two albums in the top 10 list.
Life for Rent's first track and lead single "
White Flag" begins with a lone synth-chord reminiscent of
Sinéad O'Connor's "
Nothing Compares 2 U".[8] In the song, the protagonist is unwilling to give up, even if they know it is over.[9] It features "multi-layered" sound, delicate
piano outro, and strings.[9] In battle, a white flag signals surrender. By stating there will be "No white flag," she indicates she will not give up on the relationship. The second track "Stoned" has a
dance vibe, bringing to mind
David BowiecircaOutside (1995).[10] The title track, "
Life for Rent", has emotional gravity and graceful melody.[8] The song opens with an
acoustic guitar, keeping the
guitar in and giving the tune a
hip-hop beat. "Nothing I have is truly mine" she repeats at the conclusion.[10] "Mary’s in India" is a reflective song about a friend who moves abroad, as the title suggests, and the void her departure creates in those she leaves behind.[10] The fifth track "See You When You're 40" is a somber and melodic ballad with a touch of symphonic air, featuring "quasi"
trip hop beat.[10] 'And I've seen, tonight, what I'd been warned about / I'm gonna leave, tonight, before I change my mind,' she sings.[10]
The sixth track "
Don't Leave Home" sounds like she is picking herself up again although she speaks of shutting the blinds and closing the door,[10] but she revealed that it's about
drug addiction. The "narrator" of the song is the drug. Like a controlling lover, the drug takes over the user's life until he does not even want to leave home. "Who Makes You Feel" is a
trip-pop, soulful and tender track.[10] "
Sand in My Shoes" talks about not having time, while the bridge get a bit
dance-
house.[10] "Do You Have a Little Time" features lush
strings and hip-hop back-beats.[8] "This Land Is Mine" is a reflective piece that according to
PopMatters, "could have
Travis or
Coldplay recording it with big grins on their faces. Simplistic and sparse, the song sounds just a bit like
Olivia Newton-John in the early seventies, according to them.[10] "See the Sun" sees Dido swoop in as savior for a broken heart, classified as a "mini-anthem that has all the right items in their proper places."[8][10]
Singles
"
White Flag" was released as the
lead single from the album on 7 July 2003 in the United States and on 1 September 2003 in the United Kingdom.[11][12] The song was well received by critics who reviewed the album. It became a major worldwide hit, reaching number one in Australia and Europe.[13] It peaked at number two in the
United Kingdom, being held off the top spot by
the Black Eyed Peas' "
Where Is the Love?", and became her highest-charting single to date there.[14] On the UK year-end chart for 2003, the song ranked at number 12.[15] It peaked at number 18 on the
Billboard Hot 100 and became her second top-20 single on the chart.[16] It reached number two on the US BillboardHot Adult Contemporary Tracks listing and stayed on the chart for 66 weeks.[16] The song references a past relationship with Bob Page. In an interview with British newspaper The Sun, Dido said "the song is an apology to Page for breaking his heart. 'It was a big decision not to get married...'".[17] The video featured the TV actor
David Boreanaz. The song ranked on Blender's list "The 500 Greatest Songs Since You Were Born" at number 317.[18] "
Life for Rent" was released as the second
single from the album on 1 December 2003.[19] It peaked within the top ten in the
UK Singles Chart and the
Irish Singles Chart.[20][21] The music video featured Dido singing in several rooms, and was directed by
Sophie Muller.[22]
"
Don't Leave Home", written by Dido and her brother, was released as the third single via digital download on 10 April 2004, followed by a physical release two days later.[23][24] The main theme of the song is the use of drugs, where the drugs "sing" to the consumer: "When I've been here for just one day / You'll already miss me if I go away / So close the blinds and shut the door / You won't need other friends anymore".[25] The song debuted and peaked at number 25 in the UK.[26] The track "Stoned" was remixed by
Deep Dish and issued as the B-side to the single; this remix had previously reached number one on the BillboardHot Dance/Club Songs chart in January 2004.[27] "
Sand in My Shoes" was released as the fourth and final single from the album; in the US, it was serviced to radio on 23 August 2004, while in the UK, it was issued commercially on 13 September 2004.[28][29] The remixes became another US club hit, reaching number one on the Billboard Hot Dance Club Play chart.[27] "Sand in My Shoes" debuted and peaked at number 29 in the UK.[30]
According to review aggregator
Metacritic, the album has received generally positive reviews, scoring 69 out of 100 points based on 12 reviews.[31] Jason MacNeil, from PopMatters, gave a very positive review, finishing with: "this record seems to outweigh the previous album in terms of quality and depth".[10]Alexis Petridis wrote "It would be nice to report that Dido's second album is strong enough to reveal her detractors as snobs, who hate the notion that her music appeals to 'ordinary' people ... Sadly, it proves a little more complicated than that".[35]
Barry Walters of Rolling Stone declared "Like No Angel ... isn't groundbreaking, but it has its own kind of integrity.[40] "Life for Rent doesn't offer anything that drastically different from Dido's debut album [No Angel], ... she's unassuming and gentle, but her songs are so melodic and atmospheric they easily work their way into the subconscious" was the review by
Stephen Thomas Erlewine, from
Allmusic.[32] Andrew Lynch, from
entertainment.ie noted: "Life For Rent is no masterpiece, but it has the same kind of sweet, unassuming, girl-next-door charm that made its predecessor such a smash hit".[41] Derryck Strachan,
BBC Music reviewer wrote " ... she treads a fine line between credibility and popularity ... But, she hasn't put a foot wrong with this album. On the positive side that means more well-crafted folk-pop tunes, on the negative side she hasn't moved forward", also said "Although Dido played a significant part in older brother Rollo's band, ... Faithless, it would be misleading to say that the groups success brought her fame".[1]
Commercial performance
Life for Rent was the fastest selling album by a woman recording artist, passing five million sales mark in just two weeks. It sold 102,500 on the first day, and 400,351 in the first week.[42] According to the
IFPI, it was the fourth best-selling album worldwide of 2003.[43] Also, according to the
BPI, Life for Rent was the best-selling album of 2003 in United Kingdom;[15] and the seventh best-selling album between 2000 and 2009 in the country.[44] The album spent ten weeks at the top of the UK albums chart.[45] It remained on the chart for 54 weeks.[46][47] Also, spent 18 non-consecutive weeks at number one on the
European Top 100 Albums chart.[48] In the United States, Life for Rent debuted and peaked at number four. By October 2003, the album had sold over a million and half copies.[48] In Australia the album debuted at number one on the
ARIA albums chart, being certified platinum (70,000) copies in its first week. It was one of the biggest selling albums of 2003 and went on to be certified six times platinum for sales of over 420,000.[49] With this, Dido matched the huge success of her previous effort, No Angel. Dido's "Life for Rent Tour" was taken around the world in 2004.[48] The album was nominated for "Best British Album" at the 2004
BRIT Awards along with
Daniel Bedingfield's Gotta Get Thru This,
Blur's Think Tank and
The Coral's Magic and Medicine, but they were all beaten by
The Darkness's Permission to Land. "White Flag" was awarded the 2004
Ivor Novello Award in the category International Hit of the Year. Also, in the same year, Life for Rent earned Dido's first
Grammy nomination, at the
46th Grammy Awards, in the category
Best Female Pop Vocal Performance for the song "
White Flag".
^In its own vapid, curiously sexless way, Life For Rent is actually fascinating stuff, so set against the usual rules of successful music that it starts to look oddly revolutionary. [Oct 2003, p.99]
^"DIDO COM CONCERTO EM LISBOA" [Dido will perform a concert in Lisbon] (in Portuguese). Correio da Manhã. 14 March 2004. Retrieved 14 December 2020. Dido é uma das mais populares cantoras da nova geração, tendo o seu último disco, 'Life For Rent', vendido mais de 30 mil unidades em Portugal. [Dido is one of the most popular singers of the new generation, having her latest album, 'Life For Rent', sold more than 30,000 copies in Portugal.]
^Barker, Emily (23 September 2014).
"That's Not What We Call Music: 19 Unfathomably Popular Albums Of The 00s". NME. Retrieved 25 February 2017. Let us be frank: Dido's debut, 'No Angel', wasn't much cop either. But it was superior to follow-up 'Life For Rent', which sold over 12 million copies worldwide and was the seventh best-selling album of the 2000s in the UK.