Monday Music: Adele
Let’s revisit Adele for a moment. It is highly likely that she will be the belle of the ball come Grammy night. Well deserved, I think. No other CD released last year even lit a candle next to Adele’s magnum opus, 21. While we wait for the inevitable, let’s dig a little deeper into what makes this CD so damn good.
First, I think it is a rare combination of honesty and vulnerability. We all are aware of the story of how this CD came about because of a break up that nearly broke this woman. Instead of relenting to the pain of a broken heart, Adele poured all of the anger, all of the resentment, all of the questions into this 11-song CD. Every song is wistful and yearning; every song touches a bit of your soul. It certainly does help that Adele’s voice has a little bit of magic in it. You can feel her pain.
Second is that voice. At times, Adele’s voice is soft and purring. You want to cozy up next to it and rub your face against it. It is comforting. Other times, it is raw and guttural. It makes you take notice, makes the hairs on the back of your neck stand up. I read recently that Adele heard Etta James sing when she was younger and that is when she knew she wanted to be a singer. Now that is inspiration, because no one did raw and gut-wrenching singing like Etta James. There are not very many vocal tricks in Adele’s singing; it is pure. One of the things I love the most is that she doesn’t need any vocal enhancements to make her sound better. When I sing in the shower, I think I sound pretty good. When Adele sings in the shower, she sounds like Adele. Makes me want to stop singing.
Lastly, we all have experienced heartache and pain due to a failed relationship. We all know how the tears come unmitigated, sometimes by surprise, sometimes willed to appear by our wanting to get it out. Adele’s 21 is one long crying session. It is the questions of why and how; it is the uncertainty of moving on; it is love set to music.
I normally grab a hold of a CD that I love and play it until I cannot stand to hear it any longer. I’ve been playing Adele’s 21 for almost exactly a year now, and every time I listen to it, I find something else that I love about it. There are only a handful of CDs that I can say that about. 21 is definitely one of those.
Set fire to the rain,
~ M
