Review: Adele – 25

Including just a short list of Adele’s accolades would go beyond the scope of reviewing her new album 25. If you haven’t heard of her by now, then a quick internet search will bring you right up to speed. When it comes to the life and times of Adele Adkins, what you don’t know, she doesn’t want you to find out. A private, working-class person, Adele was thrust into the public eye at a young age. She made some early career mistakes but owned up to them nearly immediately, somehow making them a part of her past even in their present moment. She was wise enough to age beyond her years and pull herself up to meet expectations. Then her voice decided to take a time-out. Recovered, and a new mum, she’s back like she never skipped a beat. It seems whatever the challenge, Adele will continue to rise to the occasion.

Reminiscent of Garth Brooks, Adele is as humble as she is talented. She doesn’t let money control her choices and she is her genuine, silly self in public while fiercely defensive of the ‘normalcy’ of the lives of those she loves. A desperately vulnerable potty mouth who names her wigs – thus allowing herself to embody their alter egos upon wearing – Adele is just the right level of crazy. What makes reviewing anything she does a difficult task is that you are literally ‘blinded by the light’ that is this woman. Adele was born with a voice that will still be listened to when her children’s children have kids of their own. Her talent is undeniable. So how do you begin to ‘review’ that? Simply put, you don’t. This album, were it just about one person, Adele, it would be a force of nature and it would need neither introduction nor review. The process of making an album however, involves dozens of people, in a moment in time, working together to create something. So let’s talk about those people.

Greg Kurstin is the producer of the first single off the album, Hello. Yes, the Hello that has already smashed all sorts of records. Kurstin is generally a purist. He works with the artist’s talent and avoids a lot of mic play. I think this rings true on both the tracks he produced for 25. The complexity of Adele’s first single is all in the vocals. It is an instrument, scratch that, orchestra unto itself. Her voice dominates the song’s progression and she acts as her own rhythm section. This is the Adele of old but this is also the last time you’ll be hearing from her on 25. In a magazine interview earlier this month, Adele mentions: “Life is so much easier when you don’t hoard your past.” After listening to the album, I’d say she was smart to clear the way for her future.

I was taken aback by the song River Lea, produced by Danger Mouse. Reminiscent of a more soulful Adele, circa Rolling In The Deep, it is New Orleans meets country fun, with a truly blues sound. Hearing, in a single song, exactly how these musical cousins bleed through to one another is a credit to singer and producer alike. Love In The Dark nods to Nick Lowe with the lyric “cruel to be kind”. Adele combines it with just the right touch of her pen to make the message that much more gut-wrenching for anyone who has ever been the first to walk away in a relationship with, “I want to live and not just survive”.

Desperately needing to be swept away to a Parisian cafe circa a 1950s Audrey Hepburn movie? Million Years Ago will serve as your time machine. With lyrics like, “I feel like the world is rushing by and all I can do is look up and cry”, you’ll be set to put on your best beatnik mopey face. Though she doesn’t fancy herself a country singer, Adele’s newfound love for the genre just might earn her some country music awards all the same with Sweet Devotion. The lyrics of her love song to her son will make the toughest of cowboys catch a little sun in their eye. Adele told a British newspaper: “It sounds obvious, but I think you only learn to love again when you fall in love again.” It sounds like she has found the love of her life in motherhood.

When hearing All I Ask, my first thought was, ‘uh, Adele, Harry Nilsson would like his song back’ (cue: 1971’s Without You). When I saw she had co-written the tune with Bruno Mars it all made sense, after all he does love the 70s. Though I can’t recall too many 70s-era tunes with such striking lyrics, “It matters how this ends, cause what if I never love again?” Bidding for the first single spot was Send My Love (To Your New Lover). While I love this tune for its sugary pop goodness, it screams Max Martin had his hands on me! A producer should work within the voice of the artist, to find their best, without leaving their own personal mark behind. The only song on 25 that Martin produced was immediately recognizable. Max Martin’s talent lies in making songs that define a generation’s memories. What he loses in the process however, are the artists he works with.

If you can lose a voice like Adele’s, if you can play Maker with those vocals, perhaps it might be time to check the size of your britches. Give a listen to Million Years Ago or Hello back-to-back with Send My Love. You’ll hear the rawness in her vocals smoothed over. The depth and resonance of it has disappeared in Martin’s track. On the flip side, XL Recordings remains a testament to a label dedicated to letting the talent shine its own light. They understood what they had in Adele from day one and have been in her corner ever since. They allowed her to stay true to who she is, both as a person and an artist, and that is how music making is supposed to be.

25 is Adele… just pushing through to a new era in her life. This is a great listening album. Adele is not a sing-along performer, and it would be shameful if you tried. Sit back and enjoy taking the journey with her. The lyrics are bound to bring you down a few forgotten lanes of your own memories.

 
Written by Sam Gilman

Sam I. Gilman is a music journalist who has been involved with the industry as a DJ, voice-over talent and on-air host for radio and TV stations around the globe. www.samigilman.com

 
Author’s rating for 25

Pop Magazine’s official rating for 25

Rating key
MASTERPIECE a must-have
SUPERB for heavy rotation
EXCELLENT a great achievement
VERY GOOD a respectable result
GOOD worth checking out
FAIR an average outcome
WEAK not convincing stuff
BAD an underwhelming effort
VERY BAD quite a waste
FAIL a total failure