Annie Lennox

Four albums in 15 years is not exactly prolific when it comes to making records. But Annie Lennox has never been one to rush things, and her recorded output as a solo artist in life after the Eurythmics has been stellar. The last time she issued a recording in 2003 with Bare, a collection of deeply committed emotional songs that set a new standard for her artistically, though they were written in the turmoil following her second divorce. Perhaps the reason she hasn't had the time to record is her activism. She's involved herself in causes that range from her primary concern, raising awareness about AIDS/HIV (and she refers to this in the album's notes), to the environment and poverty. But Songs of Mass Destruction isn't a political album by any means, unless the personal is – and often it is. This is another album of love songs; dark love songs. These are breakup ballads, statuesque embers of pain and rage that have simmered down to the traces of that dull ache of emptiness that always exists in the aftermath of something profound.

"Precious" is a song by Annie Lennox. It was released as the second single from her debut solo album, Diva, in 1992 and peaked at number 23 in the UK…

It's been eight years since Medusa, Annie Lennox's last studio album, was released. It's been 11 since her debut solo effort and five since the short-lived Eurythmics reunion. And while she may not be prolific, Lennox is always enigmatic. Bare is a collection of self-penned tracks, as the artist explains in the liners: "This album contains songs that are deeply personal and emotional. In a sense I have 'exposed' myself through the work to reveal aspects of an inner world that are fragile…broken through experience but not entirely smashed. I am not a young artist in their (sic) twenties. I am a mature woman facing up to the failed expectations of life and facing up to 'core' issues." Sound pretentious? One listen proves that Lennox lives up to her claims in spades. Here are 11 wholly – even infectiously – accessible, lyrically savvy, and gorgeously wrought pop songs full of spiritual and emotional depth that make for a deeply moving whole.

It's no coincidence that it appears as if the blood has been drained from Annie Lennox's face on the cover of her third solo effort, Bare. Death, both figurative and literal, consumes much of the album (her first since 1995's collection of covers Medusa), and her mummified image is more than apropos.

Annie Lennox has announced the release of a digitally remastered version of her sixth solo album, A Christmas Cornucopia: a collection of inspired interpretations of traditional festive songs, rounded out by a Lennox composition, “Universal Child”. The 2020 re-issue of A Christmas Cornucopia will be released via Island Records on November 20 to mark its 10 year anniversary. It will feature a brand new, previously unreleased track, “Dido’s Lament”, a new tracklisting, and new artwork.