FOR THE RECORD: ADELE 21 REVIEW

ADELE
21
COLUMBIA RECORDS

Listening to Adele Adkins sophomore album has been a deep experience. Her voice transports you to a place both powerful and soothing. The debut release was only last Tuesday, but this record has been on replay everywhere for me, the car, the iPod, everywhere.

Simply titled 21 as a continuation to her previous album 19, the titles are representations of Adkins age at the making of each album.

Adele’s songs are highly translatable both in mind and in sound. With a voice of great volume, the singer delves into the reveries of lost love, unrequited feelings and the trials of growth in a deeper, darker package. Being twenty-one myself listening to this album makes me reflect on the loves of my life and questioned the intensity that I’ve experienced with them.

My biggest question is could I write an album about heartbreaks and the growth and maturities we undergo as well as Adele clearly has? The answer is probably not. However, I sure can feel it. This album has become a soulful collection that has combined her complex maturity with her wail and given you more substance with less fluff.

Considering the solid success of 19, 2 Grammy awards to be exact, there was talk on Adele’s ability to transcend with 21, however the songwriting has become sharper and I can feel the heartbreak through songs like “Someone like you” and “Take It All”.  Crackling with emotion “Turning Tables” is a favorite and a sure hit.

From start to finish this is an album built on love loss and scorn without the self-pity,  Adele’s coming of age is mature and beautiful with every dark turn.

Not to leave you with out a taste here is the latest video for “Rolling in the Deep”