It is very rare that a fresh young artist comes out with a first album that is not only refreshing but different and original. Janis Ian and Tracy Chapman come to mind, but I would be hard pressed to find someone really impressive in the last decade. Then along comes a nineteen year old  music student named Adele Laurie Blue Adkins who understandably uses the stage name of Adele.

Most of the new female singers that have sprung from nowhere since the outbreak of the new millennium  neatly fit into categories. There are the Britney look and sound alikes (too numerous or unworthy to mention here) , the new born Chapmans, the pop jazz singers a’ la Nora Jones  and the variations on the theme of Sarah Mclaughlin / Joni Mitchel. Adele doesn’t seem to  fit easily   into any of these cliches, to her credit, and seems much more at home with Dylan. A near perfect rendition of  his Make you Feel my Love is one of the highlights of this album .

   Though born in  London,  Adele is of  Welsh descent which probably explain her unmistakable heavy accent and her wicked treatment of the English language. To fully fathom some of the songs it is necessary to read the lyrics.  Nevertheless the album is full of minor masterpieces and a couple of real gems.

  19 (Adele’s age at the time) opens with Daydream, an ode to a lost boyfriend waiting for her on her doorstep., Her portrayal is graphically clear:

Daydreamer, sittin’ on the seat, soaking up the sun he is a real lover, 
makin’ up the past and feeling up his girl like he’s never felt her figure before.

Much of the disk deals with romance and betrayal, but never in a popsy top ten fashion.
Whether the love is hopeless as in Chasing Pavements:

Should i give up,
Or should i just keep chasing pavements?
Even if it leads nowhere

or temporary as defined in Best for Last

You should know that you’re just a temporary fix
This is not rooted with you it don’t mean that much to me
You’re just a filler in the space that happened to be free
How dare you think you’d get away with trying to play me (Best for Last)

 the words she choses are always blindingly candid.
 In the long run however what really grabs  you and forces you to play this disk over and over again are the catchy lyrics, some humorous some dramatic, but always original.
Then, when you are reaching the end of 19, she lets it all go and reels you in with Hometown Glory a superb finale that opens with a simple, soft piano solo and then crescendos into her own personal political statement.

I like it in the city when the air is so thick and opaque
I love to see everybody in short skirts, shorts and shades
I like it in the city when two worlds collide
You get the people and the government
Everybody taking different sides
Shows that we ain’t gonna stand shit
Shows that we are united
Shows that we ain’t gonna take it

 Now it only remains to be seen what she’ll be able to do for an encore.

  

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