tjhassecrets's Full Review: Hometown Glory [Single] by Adele
Adele isn't your typical music icon-- at least not in America. Packing a powerfully soulful voice with a mellow style of music and not being a size zero, she more or less has too much talent to last in this country. I give her kudos for reaching Top 20 on the Billboard 100, though, meaning that she's definitely got something special. The British songstress's debut record 19 was released in 2008, garnering much critically acclaim from being a little bit of Amy Winehouse without the meth, a little bit of Alicia Keys without the braids, and a little bit of Joss Stone with something a little more interesting. Her sound is wholly European-- heavy, dramatic piano arrangements that haunt behind her complex voice.
Her voice is one that you'd expect from a nightclub singer. There's a heavy ring of jazz and blues in her rasp, and she goes there throughout the dark piano-based Hometown Glory, which is the last official track from her debut release. The chorus experiments with different vocal plains and scatting, all while retaining a very serious demeanor. That's talent, because it's very difficult to pull of what some may consider nonesense in front of a very serious melody. Any fans of Sia or Imogen Heap should be very impressed with this woman. The b-side, Best For Last, slips more into a coffee-house genre, based a few acoustic guitar plucks that never really go away. The star of this show is definitely her India.Arie-soaked voice. Though quite interesting and nice, I'm not sure I could ever pick Adele out of a group of soulful singers. The difference in her style may only be her dramatic delivery-- and because she is so dramatic, her accent slips out more than her contemporaries. This, in turn, makes her a little less plastic. Just based on these two tracks, of which someone suggested to me, I'd say that Adele's music is instantly better than anything Corrine Bailey Rae's released...
JUDGING I like Adele. I'm not sure I'd seek her out too often, but when she's on she's neither intrusive or obnoxious. Her style is cool and bluesy and the obvious product of so-called "black music." If I listen to her a little bit more, maybe I'll get a real sense of what makes Adele...Adele. As it stands, though, this single is enough to peak my interest.
Hometown Glory (4 Stars) Best For Last (4.5 Stars)
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