I think I’m confused.
The latest entry in our New Music Friday series –- the album 19 by British singer Adele –- has me asking myself a number of questions about my own musical tastes that I’m not sure I’m qualified to answer.
Let’s start with what we know. Fact: The album is called 19. Adele was 19 years old when it was recorded and released. So far, so good.
Fact: Adele has a ridiculously gorgeous voice. It’s one of those thick, slightly raspy, scotch-and-soda voices that harkens back to the late 60s/early 70s R&B era. The comparisons that have been made between Adele and Dusty Springfield are apt. Think of Macy Gray meets Tina Turner, but tone down the harshness like six notches and add like a gallon each of honey, buttermilk, and high-viscosity motor oil.
After that, I start to get lost. It’s not that I don’t like the music, because I’m pretty sure I really like it. I’m just not sure where it goes.
When I think of other current singer-songwriters I’m somewhat familiar with, I think of Feist, Regina Spektor, Norah Jones, and Yael Naim. But there are a couple others who I know would serve as valid barometers for Adele –- like Nicole Atkins and Amy Winehouse (link omitted for your own good) –- that I don’t know a damn thing about. Probably because she’s British, I’ve seen a fair number of Adele-Winehouse comparisons (mostly to suggest that Adele is what Winehouse would be if she had her shit together or if she were good), but for me, that’s not particularly instructive.
I’ve heard a little bit of what Nicole Atkins has to offer (mostly courtesy of mgdistrict), and while I certainly haven’t heard enough to have any substantiated opinions about her, I have to admit I was surprised (and not necessarily pleasantly so) at how full and dramatic and produced her songs are.
From the varying degrees of what I know about each of these songstresses, my sense is that Adele falls somewhere in the middle. She’s not the classic indie rock singer-songwriter à la Feist (let’s all forget about Let It Die, shall we?); she’s not so far toward the pop end of the spectrum as Amy Winehouse; her music’s not as layered and produced as Nicole Atkins; and she doesn’t sing half her songs in some kind of French-Hebrew Esperanto like Yael Naim. (And yes, I’m fully aware I’m pigeonholing Amy Winehouse after admitting I don’t know anything about her, so don’t bother pointing that out.)
I’d probably put her closest to Regina Spektor –- awesome voice, pop-soul hybrid, a healthy mix of stripped-down ballads and produced pop numbers –- but honestly, frack if I know where the hell to put this one, ‘cause it’s pullin’ me six ways from Sunday.
Hey, maybe it’s better this way. Without any meaningful measuring stick, all I have to do is listen to those beautiful pipes, let it hit me in that special way that only a good female singer can, and forget about everything else in this crazy mixed-up world of ours.
Give a listen for yourself, and tell me I’m wrong:
“Right As Rain” by Adele
“Tired” by Adele
P.S. The album also contains a cover of one of my favorite later-years Bob Dylan songs. I wanted to devote the post to her originals, but give it a listen here.
Aaaaaaaaand I’m back!
My summer vacation really took the ol’ music bloggin’ wind outta my sails. Sorry to have not replied to this post earlier, because this was a good introduction to Adele, who I had only heard of in passing.
This voice is amazing. “Right As Rain” is absolutely killer. And you’re right: “Dusty Springfield” was the first thing that popped into my head. I guess that may have something to do with the swingin’ sixties vibe of this song, though.
But what’s up with the orchestral bridge in “Tired”? She lost me there.
Thanks for the heads up on Adele, buddy. Gonna have to pick this album up.
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