alltalks

Now that he's gotten us talking about the viral life of ideas and the power of gut reactions, Malcolm Gladwell poses a more provocative question in Outliers: why do some people succeed, living remarkably productive and impactful lives, while so many more never reach their potential? Challenging our cherished belief of the "self-made man," he makes the democratic assertion that superstars don't arise out of nowhere, propelled by genius and talent: "they are invariably the beneficiaries of hidden advantages and extraordinary opportunities and cultural legacies that allow them to learn and work hard and make sense of the world in ways others cannot." Examining the lives of outliers from Mozart to Bill Gates, he builds a convincing case for how successful people rise on a tide of advantages, "some deserved, some not, some earned, some just plain lucky."

Of the healthy stable of producers and guests who guide Dido's third studio effort, it's producer Jon Brion (Rufus Wainwright, Aimee Mann, Fiona Apple) who does the heavy lifting, situating the singer within dense, velvety textures (including some lush string arrangements) that match the darker shade of her newfound emotional complexity. Even as the topics get weighty -- the death of her father among them -- her typically breezy disaffection keeps things fairly chilly. A late highlight comes in the intimate duet with New York DJ and producer Citizen Cope."