Album: 21
Artist: Adele
As the clip above shows, there's something real and honest about Adele as a performer, she never oversings (as is the wont of many modern divas and X Factor wannabes). This understated behaviour is reflected in the album's spare production, an approach at odds with the musical style of other female pop stars like Lady Gaga and Katy Perry. Many of her songs deal with heartbreak and have real emotional depth, notably Turning Tables, with its steely resolve ("So, I won't let you close enough to hurt me / no, I won't rescue you to just desert me"). Another torch song is Set Fire To The Rain, one of several singles released from the album. There are also a handful of non-singles that Adele worked on with producer Rick Rubin, including the country-tinged Don't You Remember and He Won't Go, as well as an inspired bossa nova cover of The Cure's Lovesong. On her first album, Adele covered Dylan's Make You Feel My Love, breathing new life into the song, and this is another quality that I respect about Adele as a performer. 21 is by no means a perfect record, and there are a few fillers (especially on the second side of the LP), but these are far outweighed by the standout moments, like album closer Someone Like You. For the attentive listener, it's a very revealing song, with Adele writing about a time she stalked a married man ("I hate to turn up out of the blue uninvited"), and it closes the album on a note of real intensity.
Born: Tottenham, London
Released: January 2011
Genre: Soul
There's a fine tradition of Britain's best female soul singers hailing from London's outer boroughs, with Adele born in Tottenham, Dusty Springfield in West Hampstead and Amy Winehouse in Southgate. All of them share a sassy style of singing and a deep appreciation of soul's golden era in the early 60s. In Adele's case, she must have known she was doing something right when Aretha Franklin covered one of her own songs (Rolling In The Deep). Written by Adele in collaboration with producer Paul Epworth, Rolling In The Deep was one of those songs that was everywhere in 2011, an instant pop classic that people felt the urge to sing at full voice (especially the line, "we could have had it all") whenever it was played. The first time I heard it I was sure it was a cover of an old classic, just because it sounded so assured and accomplished. The rousing opening, the femme fatale lyrics, the pacing (from gentle Carole King piano section to throat-shredding chorus) -- it's just about the most perfect pop single of modern times. Until that point, I was agnostic to Adele's talents but that was the moment I realised that she was much more than a girl with a golden voice, and by no means just another Brit School product. There were songs on her first album, 19 (2008), such as Chasing Pavements and Hometown Glory, which I thought were great but this record is blessed with better songwriting (with more emotional depth) and wonderful (if not all that daring) arrangements.
There's a fine tradition of Britain's best female soul singers hailing from London's outer boroughs, with Adele born in Tottenham, Dusty Springfield in West Hampstead and Amy Winehouse in Southgate. All of them share a sassy style of singing and a deep appreciation of soul's golden era in the early 60s. In Adele's case, she must have known she was doing something right when Aretha Franklin covered one of her own songs (Rolling In The Deep). Written by Adele in collaboration with producer Paul Epworth, Rolling In The Deep was one of those songs that was everywhere in 2011, an instant pop classic that people felt the urge to sing at full voice (especially the line, "we could have had it all") whenever it was played. The first time I heard it I was sure it was a cover of an old classic, just because it sounded so assured and accomplished. The rousing opening, the femme fatale lyrics, the pacing (from gentle Carole King piano section to throat-shredding chorus) -- it's just about the most perfect pop single of modern times. Until that point, I was agnostic to Adele's talents but that was the moment I realised that she was much more than a girl with a golden voice, and by no means just another Brit School product. There were songs on her first album, 19 (2008), such as Chasing Pavements and Hometown Glory, which I thought were great but this record is blessed with better songwriting (with more emotional depth) and wonderful (if not all that daring) arrangements.
As the clip above shows, there's something real and honest about Adele as a performer, she never oversings (as is the wont of many modern divas and X Factor wannabes). This understated behaviour is reflected in the album's spare production, an approach at odds with the musical style of other female pop stars like Lady Gaga and Katy Perry. Many of her songs deal with heartbreak and have real emotional depth, notably Turning Tables, with its steely resolve ("So, I won't let you close enough to hurt me / no, I won't rescue you to just desert me"). Another torch song is Set Fire To The Rain, one of several singles released from the album. There are also a handful of non-singles that Adele worked on with producer Rick Rubin, including the country-tinged Don't You Remember and He Won't Go, as well as an inspired bossa nova cover of The Cure's Lovesong. On her first album, Adele covered Dylan's Make You Feel My Love, breathing new life into the song, and this is another quality that I respect about Adele as a performer. 21 is by no means a perfect record, and there are a few fillers (especially on the second side of the LP), but these are far outweighed by the standout moments, like album closer Someone Like You. For the attentive listener, it's a very revealing song, with Adele writing about a time she stalked a married man ("I hate to turn up out of the blue uninvited"), and it closes the album on a note of real intensity.
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