Adele’s 19 is all about soul
Adele is the latest in a recent line of young women intent on bringing blues, soul and jazz music into the mainstream. So what happens when you try to create your own sound in an arena dominated by heavy-hitters like Joss Stone, Alicia Keys, Nora Jones and Christina Aguilera’s latest incarnation? Turns out you start sounding a lot like Kate Nash and Amy Winehouse’s love child, a surprisingly appealing mix.
Adele’s soulful cockney-tinged vocals are what really make her debut album, 19, interesting, carrying off everything from the purposefully sappy lyrics on the cover of “Make You Feel My Love” (When the rain is blowing on your face/and the whole world is on your case/I could offer you a warm embrace.) to the angsty “Hometown Glory.” Like so many productions, the album bogs down in the middle. Although never falling back on under-developed filler, there are a few weak tracks at this point.
“Melt My Heart to Stone” offers nothing that can’t be found elsewhere on the disc, except, perhaps, an interesting title. Luckily 19 doesn’t simply peter out. Unusually enough it gets more upbeat as it goes, with the peppy tracks “Right As Rain,” “My Same” and “Tired” all on the second half of the disc. It’s a smart move, giving the listener a pick-me-up right as they’re getting tired. But more than this Adele marks herself out by not just conforming to the neo-soul
formula, instead adding her own touches of pop/rock that ultimately make her debut a refreshing addition to an already crowded genre.
- Helen Horn-Mitchem
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