Album Review: Adele - 21

So irresistible a prospect back in 2008 that The BRIT Awards committee simply made up a category in order to include her in their annual shindig, Adele Adkins went on to conquer the UK charts and scoop an unlikely pair of Grammys, despite the glaring fact that - to these ears at least - her debut album actually ended up doing her one-in-a-million voice little justice. Closer ‘Hometown Glory’ aside, the remainder of the million-selling 19 was far too flimsy to accommodate the Tottenham teenager’s vocal prowess. While more of the same (‘Chasing Pavements'-esque fluff) might well have led to, well, more of the same (a BRIT here, a Grammy there), it's a relief to discover that the only predictable thing about this follow-up is its title. 21 doesn’t just deliver on the promise Ragged Words will never forget witnessing first hand at a near-empty Madame JoJo’s gig some four years ago: it puts considerable distance between Adele and anyone else trying to make powerful pop music in 2011.

 
While we had been given a pretty decent clue that the bar had been raised considerably when lead single and album-opener ‘Rolling In The Deep’ emerged online late last year, here it is immediately trumped by the wonderfully-crafted ‘Rumour Has It’. What will strike you straight away about 21 - only a couple of songs in, in fact - is just how much stronger the songwriting is, how much more appropriate and purposeful the Rick Rubin/Paul Epworth-led production is. Rather than simply hitting us with that voice, it’s the strings on ‘Turning Tables’, the percussion on 'Rumour...', and pretty much the whole of ‘Set Fire To The Rain’ that will stay with you. The vocals are just as assured - albeit slightly subtler than before - and yet the lyrics, richly detailing the end of a relationship, are far, far more convincing. An even mix of big tunes and big ballads, 21 is basically the complete pop package; she even tackles The Cure’s ‘Lovesong’ and nails it, for god's sake!

 
The more 21's breathless scope starts to sink in, the more unbelievable it seems that Adele could have spent so much of her breakthrough year - at home at least - in the shadow of Diet Coke’s most cringe-worthy saleswoman. Those old, often lazy, references to Kate Nash or Lily Allen are rendered utterly meaningless here too. Unless a top-of-her-game Amy Winehouse returns in the relatively near future, Adele can consider herself a class apart from the rest of the BRIT School posse. Indeed, these eleven songs represent such a giant leap forward for the singer that she could soon see herself being mentioned in the same breath as some of the giants of soul music. With little likely to stand in her way, comparisons to Aretha, Ella or Etta shouldn't be too far wide of the mark by the time 23 comes along.