Sweltering southern root music leads UK singer to her next high point of her career

Adele’s not your conventional pop singer. At 22, she sings with the passion of a Mavis Staples with a heavy burden for Dolly Parton. On her lead single from her 2011 LP 21, this London pop-soul starlet remains true to what she loves, while maturing immensely in her organic craft. When Adele leaps into the first verse after a constant stroking of guitar plunks, you can tell she’s a woman recovering from scorn. She sings with tried-and-true Mahalia Jackson conviction and with the wisdom of a master blues musician when she echoes, “There’s a fire starting in my heart/Reaching a fever pitch, it’s bringing me out the dark.” Luckily, her wounds are treated with a therapeutic salve loaded with gospel summoning and soulful Americana. Excellent drumming and a Rolling Stone-esque blues lead the way to her exodus. Handclaps of freedom and a choir of call-and-response on the chours drive the song’s momentum as Adele belts out her wrath: “We could have had it all/Rolling in the deep.” This is the stuff that the blues was made of and the stuff that keeps it going.

J MATTHEW COBB

LISTEN TO:
ADELE – ROLLING IN THE DEEP

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