Sony/BMG
**** (4 stars)

It is somewhat sad that this classy record has been largely ignored in Australia by a public that once adored its creator. Annie Lennox has few peers when it comes to contemporary female vocalists. She is also a woman of some conscience and her fourth solo album, Songs Of Mass Destruction, is a pointed reminder - if you need one - that not all is well with society, with this fragile world. Lennox said a few weeks ago it’s “a dark album, but the world is a dark place. It’s fraught, it’s turbulent. Most people’s lives are underscored with dramas of all kinds: there’s ups, there’s downs - the flickering candle”. As such AIDS, climate change, global poverty, the Iraq War, all come under the spotlight. Annie is frankly “sick and tired” of just about everything and isn’t mixing her metaphors. All this chest beating could be overwhelming but it’s to Lennox’s credits that the arrangements and the variety she brings to the songs carry the album effortlessly. ‘Songs’ is soulful, funky, strident, pop and rock, but never predictable. Her vocals are as good as they have ever been. At 53, she remains vital, an intrinsic part of the greater popular culture. And this record deserves much better than a chart high of 41 in Australia.

Sweet dreams aren’t neccessarily made of this but who cares when the chocolate is so good.