X Factor? My Arse! Or How To Do It Properly! – Adele
February 22, 2012Adele, London born and bred, is currently riding on a massive wave. She received 6 Grammys a couple of weeks ago and on Tuesday she got two Brit awards for best female and for best album.
I wasn’t too sure about her at first. When she burst on the scene with the single Chasing Pavements from her debut album 19 in 2008, I thought she was OK, but nothing to get too excited about. I started to soften when I heard this song two years later:
This track from her second album 21 is as sound as a pound. It has a good old thumping blues/gospel sound and her voice is much stronger here. Now I know it’s derivative, but it still catches the heart and she does it well. This song has already been covered by a number of artists, including this decent effort by Linkin Park.
And here’s a cracking version by John Legend.
The recent operation she had on her throat hasn’t diminished her power. If anything, it seems to have come back stronger than ever. Hearing her sing a snippet of Rolling In The Deep, on a section of 60 minutes with Anderson Cooper, told me she was not a karaoke car crash: she’s the real deal for these times. She also has a big personality, saying what she likes, when she likes: a welcome change in this sanitised pop world. The PR people at her record company, also known as the personality stripping team, must be quaking in fear of her saying the one thing that could turn her from a cash cow to just a cow. Surely it’s only a matter of time before they cut her at the knees. But for now, she’s free to give a middle finger salute to ‘the suits’ at The Brits for cutting short her acceptance speech, gaining approval from the Twitterverse in the process. You gots to love a girl who doesn’t give a shit.
Now, she’s no Whitney, but she is Adele and in a choppy sea of also-rans, she’s sailing through, showing them How To Do It Properly.
X Factor? My Arse!
Pie and Biscuits 
And she’s a big girl! I will only worry about her when the weight starts dropping off. She has a touch of the Dusty Springfield about her, don’t you think? And I should like to think David Blunkett might agree with me.
Well the weight has dropped a bit, but that’s probably because she was sucking soup and ice cream while her voice recovered.
Dusty Springfield? I hadn’t really thought about that. Maybe it’s the slight smokiness in her voice that does it.
And Bonnie Raitt, too.
Bonnie Raitt? Really? OK. I’ll have a look on YouTube to compare.
Adele , whether you like her music or not, you can’t deny that the girl has a great talent and is a breath of fresh air in this otherwise copycat, samey, trying to outdo the other popular music culture. The music industry these days is like a bad buffet, or the background in a scooby-do chase scene (lamp, table, clock, door. Lamp, table, clock, door…) Great artists will always be compared to each other, but their talent will shine through and they will be known for what they can do, not trying to do what the last big thing did because it worked for them… the only way you can stand up and just be who you are and NOT conform to type, is by having a real and raw talent like Adele and the late Amy Winehouse.
Just for the record, I adore Adele, she had me at ‘make you feel my love’ 🙂
A bad buffet, or the background in a Scooby-Doo chase scene: that description of the current music scene is priceless. Real and raw talent does break through occasionally. Adele one such example.
A lot of attention is given to Jesse J at the moment, even above Emile Sande, the winner of The Brits critic’s choice. Ms Sande may had been shamefully ignored in favour of an interview with Jessie J at the Brits who was the critic’s choice last year, but as she writes songs for others and sings her own compositions really well, I believe I know who will be around in ten years time.
I am enjoying Emile Sande at the moment and am quite confused with the little amount of attention around her, especially as she has, as you have said, won the Brits critic’s choice award. The girl has staying power though! Maybe it’s a second album thing…? Adele crept into the scene 4 years ago, but it was ‘Rolling in the Deep’ in 2010 that really got her noticed. The same with Amy Winehouse, her album Frank crept into the music scene in 2003, but it was Back to Black that got her noticed..you wait ’till Emile Sande’s second album! 🙂
You’re right on both counts, for Adele and Amy Winehouse. In fact, I decided to revisit Frank after Amy died and realised she really was a special talent.
Emilie is doing well enough now, but the second album could place her fully above the radar. All hail the second album!