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album reviews

Adele

Related Artists - Duffy, Alicia Keys, Leona Lewis
Related Genres - Pop & Dance

19 6 ( 2008 )
Daydreamer / Best For Last / Chasing Pavements / Cold Shoulder / Crazy For You / Melt My Heart To Stone / First Love / Right As Rain / Make You Feel My Love / My Same / Tired / Hometown Glory

We've still got Amy Winehouse, just about. Why do we need another one already? The press likes to create scenes around often disparate groups of artists to boost record sales. It's easier to market a scene than a bunch of individuals. Yet, Adele doesn't show the soul or inspiration that Winehouse is able to demonstrate. One suspects it's because she's normal. 'First Love' for example is a soft musical excersize allowing the vocals to come through. They do so, in a mannered and hookless fashion. It's instantly forgettable fare. With 'You Make Me Feel My Love' Adele offers no insights during the three and a half minutes this piano and strings decorated ballad provides. Well, there's nothing actively wrong with it, but there just isn't any genuine soul that even an ounce of rawness and roughness around the edges would provide. Amy Winehouse, if we must use the comparison we are invited to make by Adele's marketing people, can own a tune. Adele can't quite manage this yet. 'Crazy For You' is a funny song. Well, it makes me smile as Adele sings over acoustic guitar playing a pretty, jazzy pattern and Adele spells out that she's 'Crazy For You' through very clever lines. Her voice, whilst still sounding somewhat affected, singularly fails to annoy because her swoops and sweeps match the character of the lyric. Character! That's the key word, all new artists need to demonstrate an all important distinctive character.

Often a tune pops up on the album that pricks your attention, the opening 'Daydreams' is very nice, for instance. Yet, ultimately, it doesn't keep jumping out at you. Inevitably, you put the album away, rarely to listen to it again. It's a cleaning up around the house album, something to put on that you don't really need to concentrate upon. On the otherhand, I can quite imagine a slanted window, large and letting glorious sunlight in your clean and white bedroom. You're layed on the bed, facing down, reading a book. It's a pleasant spring afternoon and 'Hometown Glory' by Adele comes on and you manage to be transported. Everything seems absolutely perfect for the four and a half minutes the song takes up. When it ends, you'll never be able to repeat the process, unfortunately. It's that kind of album, offering up talents and mini glories just the once. It's a first coat, rather than the finished article. Her voice needs to sound less mannered and more natural, her lyrics need to avoid cliches. She needs to perform upbeat fare more often, tunes such as 'Cold Shoulder' which almost come across like an audition for Massive Attack. All in all, '19' is a mixed bag. Fans of Amy Winehouse can apply if they like, for everyone else, buy an Aretha Franklin album, won't you?

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The first review was written when the album came out, rather than with any revisionist history type stuff going on. It was my open and honest response to listening to the record. Second time out, even despite of Adele now being arguably the biggest selling female artist on the entire planet, I shall attempt to do the same. She co-writes all of the songs and has chosen some smart people to work with her. An appearence at the brit-awards singing 'Someone Like You' has sent her into the stratosphere, although it's well worth remembering the album had sold a good few million copies already when that career defining event occured for Adele. Collaborators that have musically helped Adele here include OneRepublic guy Ryan Tedder, Paul Epworth, Frasier T. Smith, former Semicsonic man Dan Wilson, Jim Abbiss and even the mighty Rick Rubin. Money has been spent here and for those who feel all Adele actually needs is her voice and a Piano, somebody (maybe herself) clearly feel money and expensive productions are the way forwards. True, the majority of the tracks rely on relatively simple backing tracks but the very fact her live performance of 'Someone Like You' far outshines the recorded version may be a lesson worth paying attention to. Adele, we want to hear your voice in natural settings with real acoustics. I realise in this digital age that's not always easy to achieve but when on 'Turning Tables' even the stings manage to sound synthetic, alarms bells ring.. Also, in the midst of all the current hyperbole regarding Adele, even from the serious press, it's important to know that you don't have to feel you must like her. Whilst the BBC described '21' as "Simply stunning", the Music Fix blog described it as "No fun at all".

Musically '21' is more retro soul, carrying on from '19'. A few tracks do go slightly more uptempo, particularly and suprisingly the dance-tinged electro of 'Rumour Has It', easily the most musically adventurous track on an album that largely relies on slow to mid-tempo ballads. Modern pop-soul, Adele can clearly belt out a tune yet so can Alicia Keys and Alicia arguably has a better voice and can actually play her own piano at the same time. So, is Adele a great songwriter/vocalist? Well, she's a decent vocalist for sure, although the gritty/raspy tone in her voice present during every single track can annoy at times. Still, calling Adele a great songwriter is like calling Alison Moyet a great songwriter. We need to realise although Adele can write simple, clear and emotive lyrics, the musical side of things isn't her bag. 'Take It All' is a highlight for me lyrically, very easy to grasp emotions and the backing vocals, real soul backing, adds enormously. 'I'll Be Waiting' has some funky bass lines, lead single 'Rolling In The Deep' is pure Amy Whinehouse retro soul, enjoyable enough chart fare. Her collaborators of course provide the musical backing, so the differences between 'Rumour Has It' produced and co-written by Ryan Tedder, and the eighties style power ballad 'Set Fire To The Rain' written with Fraser T Smith (who has worked with Taio Cruz, Tinchy Stryder, Keane, Craig David and Beyonce) are night and day. Variety is a good thing one might say, but you wonder how much of Adele is present in the melodies and song arrangements as opposed to her contributing purely lyrically and vocally?

It's very sunny outside today and '21' is a perfect album you might think for a relaxing Sunday at home sat on the balcony or in the garden. It's a mood album and this middle of the road trying to please everybody feel '21' gives out won't actually please everybody, because where is the edge? Where are the mistakes? Mistakes in music make it all the more human and whilst Adele may well be an average, down to earth, humble personality - the production of her records take away from all of that by offering nothing for her voice to work against, rather than simply 'roll along' with.

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