Adele

The latest British Invasion began in 2006 when a rash of young female retro-soul singers including Lily Allen, Amy Winehouse, Kate Nash, Amy MacDonald and Duffy hit U.S. shores. Add to that impressive wave Londoner Adele Adkins, a scant 19 years old when her initial CD, 19, debuted in early 2008 at #1 on the U.K. album chart and in the Top 10 throughout Europe.

Adele has had "professional singer" on the tip of her dreams since the day she grabbed a microphone and recorded a Blondie cover at 14. Things happened quickly from there: within two years she was writing songs, playing guitar and posting demos on MySpace, and by 18 she had a record contract. Shortly afterward, Adele performed on an episode of the BBC TV show “Later with Jools Holland” between visits from Paul McCartney and Björk — with only her MySpace demos to qualify as a discography at the time — she had a song on 19 guided by star producer Mark Ronson (Winehouse, Allen), and Kanye West uploaded her then-brand-new video for "Chasing Pavements" to his personal blog, calling it "dope!" All this happened despite her decidedly non-musical upbringing; before attending the BRIT Performing Arts & Technology School (the same city college where Winehouse and Nash had gone), "singing lessons" had amounted to a prepubescent Adele impersonating the Spice Girls, Etta James and Gabrielle.

Words like "exuberant," "bawdy," "disarmingly honest" and "effortlessly funny" have been written to describe Adele, but she's more defined by her commanding, soulful voice. Typically talkative, Adele starts writing when things aren't going well with a boyfriend; she wrote 19 in that headspace, which explains the songs about the end of a relationship. Musically, a stillness frequently sweeps over the CD, but it never overwhelms the more lasting impression of a swinging mid-'60s Dusty Springfield.

Provenance: London, England

Latest Release: 19 (2008)

 

© 2008 Nigel Music Media LLC. Used by permission.