Adele:21

Tags: 21, Adele, British, Columbia, singer-songwriter, united kingdom, XL

8.5/10 dropps
Record Label: XL / Columbia

When we first heard Adele, she was just 19 – with only a year’s worth of
adulthood under her belt. The then-unknown songstress used the open wounds
from a bad relationship to craft the acoustic sounds and scats that made up her
debut, which won her a Best New Artist Grammy in 2009. Her U.S. singles, “Chasing Pavements” and “Hometown Glory,” were only small excerpts from the diary that was the 19 album, and they were only the beginning of her success.

Now Adele reemerges with something that is even better than 19, aptly
named 21. In the States, 21 is the year that many truly cement themselves as
individuals. You feel a certain sense of confidence that you didn’t have when you were brand new. For Adele, the age is a time to be louder and more soulful than ever before. In contrast to 19, 21 isn’t a secretive diary-esque sneak-peek into Adele’s relationship troubles. Instead, it contains a tragic love story that longs to be played.

“Rolling in the Deep,” the first single and opening track on 21, is the blueprint
for the entire album and a perfect sample of what you get when listening to the
remaining nine selections. In the song, Adele uses the chorus to lament honestly to her long lost, “we could’ve had it all.”

The album only gets more truthful as more songs elapse. “Someone Like You”
is the last effort on the record, telling the story of what Adele thinks might be her
melancholy future. In love with a soon-to-be-married man, Adele’s final commentary on 21 insists on an emotional memorial as she repeatedly sings “don’t forget me, I beg” to the man she thought could be her one-and-only. In the end, she convinces herself that she will “find someone like [him].” This single is unlike the other tracks on the album because it features only Adele’s voice and a piano accompaniment. Though quieter than the other songs, it manages to be more emotionally cutting because her revelations are unfiltered by instrumentals.

With the help of the legendary Rick Rubin as well as Florence and the
Machine producer Paul Epworth, Adele successfully transitions from a quiet rhythm to a more sophisticated blues composed of church choir landscapes, heavenly organs, and, most importantly, beautifully-executed vocals that are reminiscent of Mahalia Jackson, and Adele’s idols, Etta James and Ella Fitzgerald.

-Brianna Pierre

Tue Feb 8

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Adele:21

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