STACK NZ Nov #68

FEATURE

MUSIC

not completely believing they were serious or possibly even real, but eventually agreed to a meeting. She was signed immediately. The following year (2007) she released her break-out track Hometown Glory , which is fascinating to listen to now: Adele was still honing her sound, and the influences of R’n’B and jazz (particularly the scat- singing towards the song’s conclusion) are identifiable between the swelling chorus and tender delivery for which she is known now. The song rippled through the industry’s awareness, and by early 2008, hype was burgeoning: Adele was tipped to be the next big thing. When her album 19 was released at the end of January, it went straight to number one on the UK charts. She was poised to break into America with an enormous US tour booked for the end of that year. But it wasn’t to be: the combination of a pernicious relationship and the singer’s struggle with alcoholism resulted in her cancelling the dates – a decision for which she has expressed regret and incredulity in subsequent interviews. Various singles from 19 charted in countries all over the world, and Hometown Glory was nominated for a Grammy for Best Female Pop Performance. Adele now set her sights on her second album, the inspiration for which came from the break-up of her relationship and her determination to overcome

in the Deep , Adele went on to win in every single category for which she had been nominated, including Album of the Year. Now, after a quiet hiatus (the singer did release the theme song for James Bond flick Skyfall in January 2014, for which she won her tenth Grammy Award for Best Song Written for Visual Media), this month we will be hearing Adele’s third album, entitled 25 . Lead single Hello immediately broke the Vevo record for single clip views in a day (previously held by Taylor Swift for Bad Blood ), and the song cannonballed way

the world, sending it platinum 15 times. Singles Rolling in the Deep , Someone Like You and Set Fire to the Rain were ubiquitous but there was no backlash to be seen, and the ‘Adele Live’ tour quickly sold out. Just before she was due to begin her US dates in October of 2011, without warning Adele suffered a laryngeal haemorrhage and underwent sudden microsurgery; convalescing back in Britain, she discovered that  21 was nominated

the crutch of alcohol which had propped her through the romance’s dissolution. 21 was released at the beginning of 2011 to almost instant worldwide

ovation. It soared to number one in more than 26 countries, including the US, UK and of course Australia; we were responsible for more than a million of the eventual 30 million sales across

up the top of the charts worldwide. It’s a perfectly fitting beginning to what promises to be another gem in the singer’s crown; do not miss 25 , due in-store on November 20.

for six Grammy Awards. She decided the 2012 Grammy ceremony would be her live comeback, and made it so in spectacular fashion: after performing Rolling

25 by Adele is out on November 20.

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