STACK Nov #133

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The singer-songwriter is solidifying her place in music history
with her third album, 25, out this month. By Zoë Radas
HOLA, ADELE
W hen you’re speaking about Adele Laurie
Blue Adkins, you can’t get away with
omitting the modifier ‘independent.’ She
might now be one of the brightest and most
adored stars in the whole of the musical industry
– with myriad awards, honours and critical glory
in her hatband – but her story makes clear that
without being born into any kind of musical family
fanaticism or industry position, it’s possible to
make it if you assert your independence.
At 14, Adele Laurie Blue Adkins – a Tottenham
gal with a single mother who was, although
supportive of her child, not connected with
music in any way – already loved singing. She
replicated tunes by Destiny’s Child, The Spice
Girls and Mary J Blige, putting on loungeroom
shows for her mum’s friends. One day while
flipping through the CD racks of a music store,
Adele came across two artists who would launch
her imagination: Etta James and Ella Fitzgerald.
Until that point, Adele’s musical interest had been
mostly focused on pursuing Artist Relations –
that art of catapulting others’ careers – but now a
new possibility had opened up: songwriting and
singing. She applied for and graduated from the
BRIT School for Performing Arts & Technology
(whose notable alumni include The Kooks,
Imogen Heap, Jessie J, King Krule, Leona Lewis
and Amy Winehouse) in 2006, with a vague but
galvanised dream of performing her own music.
A few months later, after a friend posted
a three-track demo of the vocalist’s songs on
MySpace, Adele was receiving emails from
XL Recordings. She began by ignoring them,
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 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 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 that21 was nominated
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 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 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.
One day ... Adele came
across two artists
who would launch her
imagination
visit FEATURE MUSIC
094 NOVEMBER 2015
25 by Adele is out Nov 20 through XL
Recordings/Remote Control.