Tina Dico: Building Sandcastles for Carnal Purposes

Danish singer Tina Dico, like up to a third of all alt-musicians, is in Austin this week. South by Southwest falls neatly within a whole heap of tour dates scheduled to promote Dico's first full-length album, the plaintive In The Red. Perhaps this is the week she's destined to meet and become BFF with the guys from Alien Ant Farm or Echo & the Bunnymen. You never know who you might bond with during the so-called meal of "continental breakfast" at a convention...

Dico, who previously sang on a couple of Zero 7 songs, has a lovely, expressive voice. That allows her to pour emotion and a strong sense of yearning into her already-wistful lyrics. Unfortunately, those lyrics are not always quite as stong as Dico's voice, though I'll give her a pass on this one, from "Nobody's Man": "So come and lay by my side/In my castle of sand", partly because the first time I heard it, I thought she sang "So come and lay by my side/In my castle of sin". That would have been an interesting lyric, but a more jarring one. The next lines are "Let's love til the early tide/Breaks down the dam." The other reason I'm giving her a pass on that lyric is that anyone who can build a sandcastle large and sturdy enough to "get busy" in is entitled to awkwardly brag about it.

Tina Dico Tour Dates:

March 16 10:00 PM - Austin, TX (South by Southwest - The 18th Floor at Capitol Place)
March 19 8:00 PM - San Diego, CA (The Casbah)
March 20 9:00 PM - Los Angeles, CA (Hotel Cafe)
March 21 7:00 PM - Los Angeles, CA (Borders - In-store performance and CD signing)
March 22 8:00 PM - San Francisco, CA (Boca)
March 23 8:00 PM - Seattle, WA (Chop Suey)
March 24 7:00 PM - Vancouver, BC (Media Club)
March 26 6:30 PM - Morgantown, WV (Mountain Stage, Creative Arts Centre)
April 3 8:00 PM - Glasgow (ABC 2)
April 4 8:00 PM - Newcastle (Academy 2)
April 5 8:00 PM - Nottingham (The Maze)
April 6 8:00 PM - Birmingham (Glee Club)
April 9 8:00 PM - Manchester (Night & Day)
April 10 8:00 PM - Milton Keynes (The Stables)
April 11 8:00 PM - Reading (Arts Centre)
April 12 8:00 PM - London (Dingwalls)

Tina Dico - Losing (from In The Red)

Zero 7 (feat. Tina Dico) - Home (from When It Falls)

Zero 7 is touring in England and Scotland this May and June.