While the simplistic approach of just a gentle guitar part combined with a moving vocal performance may seem like a stripped back approach for many artists. However, dodie’s sound is actually very similar to this seemingly raw performance even when the track has been fully produced and prepared for release. The official video for ‘Cool Girl,’ which premiered on Youtube on the 2nd of November, while some production tweaks such as string parts and backing vocals have been added, is in many ways very similar to this live performance and is mostly built around a very simple guitar part and simple, yet effective and very emotionally moving vocal lines.

Although ‘Build A Problem,’ will mark dodie’s first foray into the world of full length album making, she has hardly been inactive in the years running up to this moment, having released three relatively successful EP’s to date with her most recent effort, ‘Human,’ reaching as high as number five on the UK official album charts when it was released in 2019. This was her second top 10 effort with 2017’s ‘You,’ climbing as high as number 6. While her debut EP ‘Intertwined,’ only reached as far as number 35, this is still a pretty good achievement for a breakthrough artist in the relatively niche genre of indie-pop.

With ‘Build A Problem,’ set to release next March and with a follow up tour of the UK set to take place in September, it does seem to look like dodie may well be preparing the ground of a number 1 album. Depending on what other artists decide to release albums at a similar time and on how well dodie manages to promote the album and the following tour in the time before March, we may well be looking at a debut album landing at number one on the UK charts. Dodie does seem very appealing to a niche following which she has manage to build in the few years since she began releasing music and is certainly well versed in using the social media and other online tools which have proved so valuable to artists in this time of lockdown.

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Dodie is set to embark on a tour of the UK in September of 2021, full dates are as follows:

19/09/2021 – O2 Apollo – Manchester
20/09 – O2 Academy – Glasgow
21/09 – O2 Academy – Birmingham
23/09 – O2 Guildhall – Southampton
24/09 – O2 Academy – Bristol
27/09 – Eventim Apollo – London

my debut album

BUILD A PROBLEM

is out March 5th

the first single, COOL GIRL
will be premiered on @BBCR1 TONIGHT at 6pm as @AnnieMac ‘s Hottest Record

the album will be available to preorder at https://t.co/Og7lz947iR after it’s been played

SEE YOU THERE! pic.twitter.com/qVt2kOd9yF

— dodie (@doddleoddle) October 19, 2020

Build A Problem is Dodie’s first album, but it follows a series of carefully crafted EPs with cult followings: Intertwined, You and Human. She is famous for her acoustic style and her cuttingly honest lyrics about everything: love and loss, mental health, growing up alongside the internet, sexuality. ‘Cool Girl’, the first single from Build A Problem, is no different.

‘Cool Girl’ is three minutes of Dodie’s trademark intimacy with her fans; she lays herself bare, insecurities, vulnerabilities and all, in few words and a succinct and catchy chorus. She talks candidly with Annie Mac about how the sentiment of the song – making oneself a little quieter, a little more aloof and ultimately less engaged – is not something that she wishes to promote, but just to acknowledge how people go through it sometimes.

‘Cool Girl’ was a last-minute addition to an album that has been in the works for some time; Dodie wrote it in lockdown and recorded it as some of the restrictions eased up. It is stripped back but stylish, and for fans it will likely feel like the natural progression of Dodie’s ever-growing musical talents. The harmonies are harrowing. You can watch the lyric video below.

The honesty of ‘Cool Girl’ anticipates the rest of Build A Problem, Dodie declares. She told the Metro: ‘I was very unsure of who I was and I was trying to figure it out in music … so I think it’s quite unstable of an album – but it’s definitely honest.’

On Annie Mac’s Future Sounds, she speaks about her mixed feelings about being honest, and having to be honest in interviews and other promotional material throughout the press cycle of Build A Problem. Make no mistake – Dodie sounds extremely excited to be releasing an album, but she is clear about its mental challenges and the care that needs taking with some of her subject matter. Her fans will undoubtedly be grateful though; Dodie has always had a remarkable way of just sharing reality.