Now in general, I am not good at doing music reviews. I will speak later on the blog about my work of making mixes; however, suffice it to say, I am not terribly good at describing music, let alone reviewing much. To prove this point, if I may quote my Yelp reviews, "For a gas station, good experience." Truly Shakespeare or retarded. I have decided to try again, for science.
Also, I have writers block in other projects and this is a serious time waster.
I am in general wary of pop music, not that I don`t wish the genre of pop, per se; however, I do find that most pop music moves in such swift currents, that it is often difficult to say one artist from another and that original gem that forced the flow to convert is often lost. It is in this vein that I consider all pop with. In general, the indie scene is where I hang out picking out the pop-ier bits and clinging to them for my mixes. So as I started to hear Adele, I was intrigued, but largely ignored it. This is why this review came out four months afterward the first listen on NPR. The album`s flirtation with the pop charts seems to be as uncomfortable as Adele is with the limelight.
The album is heavily influenced by 1950s-1960s American Motown and former R & B. The general narrative of love lost in the album starts out solid and triumphant, but gradually gets weaker. Her part is a beautifully flawed Alto; cracking with imperfections and nearly dripping with emotion, at times popping like a jazz instrument pushed to its limits. The medicine in the background, for the about function is restrained, with the exclusion of the single Rumor Has It. Her voice, even in that boisterous song is consuming and leading. However, as the songs grown more emotional and work towards morning, her voice becomes much rawer. Her beautiful vocals are almost transcendental. This tragic roller coast climaxes in the last of Someone Like You which is the most beautiful song I have heard this year; so bare and tragic, reminiscent of a thousand breakups and broken dreams; the pleading of emotional devastation and the falseness that follows. Her words are relatable and so heart rending that I too was worn to tears.
In my hopes, I wish this music to hit the charts and regulate them. I love this is trite, but I liked Mumford and Sons before they were big, I heard their album on All Songs Considered and purchased it almost immediately. When the songs trickled through the hierarchy of Top 40 to general audience, I was ok with it; almost proud, that I was somehow ahead of the cut and that perhaps others would give the emotional bond that I had. And then, I heard it in a Kohls when I was look at yuppie polo shirts. I realised that my music crush had fallen for the quarterback of the football team or at least the wrong crowd. Even though it was done no defect of their own, they had drifted from me. On the other hand, Josh Ritter, another emotional album, has remained much more firm and it feels like it is something I can even deal with others.
Where does this leave Adele and 21? No one can take her anymore, with her first album 19 winning a Grammy for Best New Artist, she is already all of ours. However, I think there is hope for hear do to the incredibly personal album she has made. In some little way, perhaps she can deal with apiece of us plenty of our own past, that this album remains a personal experience.
Watch Someone Like You, tell me what you think.
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