Recent recipient of a Brit Award that seemed to have been made up especially for her, Adele has been hyped so much that the backlash was inevitable weeks before her first number one single in January.
And listening to her debut album, there are no signs to suggest that she’s got anything up her sleeve to save her from the bargain bin. Yes, the girl can sing. Yes, she’s soulful. Yes, it’s a nice novelty to have a singer that breaks the image mould by having a fuller figure and considering it appropriate to wear the same big baggy jumper to appear on Lily Allen’s chat show and to pick up her Brit Award. But she’s somewhere between Amy Winehouse and Kate Nash in terms of sound? Woop-de-doo! We’ve already got Amy Winehouse and Kate Nash. Why do we need someone to bridge the gap? More importantly, once you look past her vocal skills, most of this album is just plain boring. Occasionally she belts out something powerful, but even the sassy ‘Right As Rain’ or the quirky ‘My Same’ just aren’t the kinds of song you could ever imagine captivating an arena-sized audience. If she were getting compared to Katie Melua, sure, she’d seem like an exciting and edgy new talent. But with Duffy on the scene now too, if Adele wants to keep selling records, her label should be marketing her to the more easily-amused Norah Jones-buying market.
