Back on 16 November last year, someone going by the helpful name of xxxxWGDxxxx played a small part in shaking up the music world. That was the date they logged on to YouTube and uploaded a clip of Adele singing her new track Someone Like You on Jools Holland. The video was soon being passed around feverishly by music fans, normally with some accompanying text saying something along the lines of "wow".

 

There was something about the way the 22-year-old stood there and sang, displaying diva-like confidence yet wearing her heartache on her sleeve, that proved she had matured as an artist since the modest success of her debut album, 19. Suddenly, people became very interested in hearing more from the follow-up.

 

Since then, that understated song has helped cause a whole lot of noise. On Sunday, Adele's second album, 21, smashed Madonna's record for the longest consecutive weeks spent at the top of the album charts by a female solo artist. It also looks likely to beat the all-time record held by the Bob Marley and the Wailers compilation Legend. And her Brits performance of Someone Like You was deemed to be the highlight of the night by most critics who watched the ceremony. Adele's success isn't settling for owning the UK either – 17 European countries have had their album top spot hogged by 21, as has the US.

 

So why has Adele's star risen so swiftly and why is it connecting now? Yes, she has got a great voice and decent songs – but clearly there's something special going on here that sets her apart from the crowd of white female soul singers she was originally lumped in with (Duffy, Joss Stone, Pixie Lott et al). What is it?

 

The answer involves a myriad different factors but perhaps the best place to start is with her record label, XL Recordings. They spotted in Adele not just a singer with a great voice but an artist who could be developed as her career progressed. That's why she was given the freedom to pick who she worked with, choose which tracks to release as singles and have a say on how her records were marketed. XL even trusted her to make the potentially damaging decision not to play music festivals (most record labels would have had a fit at this). If Adele initially struggled to stand out from the crowd, it was her decision to sign with XL that eventually helped her stake out ground as a credible artist. Suffice to say, you probably would not see her cycling around a TV studio singing about Diet Coke.

 

Despite these creative freedoms, it would be unwise to make out that 21 was pushing any musical boundaries. The focus is on big, piano-led ballads, each one transformed by a devastatingly huge soul voice. People can crow at the lack of innovative sonic ideas on display, but they are not what find you an audience, from NME-reading teens to aunties humming along to Radio 2. It's also worth bearing in mind that people like clinging to "safe" sounds during times of turbulence, making 21 something of a comfort blanket in the midst of a recession.

 

"Adele is one of those increasingly rare artists who has the talent and appeal to reach beyond her typical fanbase and connect with a much broader audience," says HMV spokesman Gennaro Castaldo. "She's now enjoying a wonderful virtuous circle where her continuing success feeds in to more coverage and even greater word of mouth, which, in turn, keeps the sales clocking up."

 

Of course, having such wide appeal is bound to inspire criticism, and plenty of people find Adele's sound too middle of the road to be truly inspiring – some critics like to use the term "A-dull". But that jibe misses a key point – that Adele packs a personality as big as her voice.

 

This is something NME editor Krissi Murison credits her success to. "When you look at the British female songwriters who have been really successful in recent years – Amy, Florence and Lily – the one thing they have in common is their huge characters. Adele is similar in that she's incredibly hypnotising when you meet her in person. She's also pretty normal. She doesn't have a crack habit and she doesn't look like she grew up with wolves in an enchanted forest. It's that essential human-ness that so many people love."

 

She may have attended the Brit School, but she is as far from the dead-eyed, all-singing, all-dancing stage-school desperado as imaginable. Her cockney accent does nothing to soften the fact that she's not one for airs and graces. During a recent Observer interview, for instance, she broke the ice with the journalist by discussing her struggles with irritable bowel syndrome. When asked how she felt minutes before wowing the Brits crowd, she answered simply: "Shat myself."

 

In a world where record labels are constantly trying to find the new Lady Gaga, it's perhaps obvious why people would warm to a size-14 girl from Tottenham in north London who prefers her language, rather than her photoshoots, to be racy. Adele's way of presenting herself is at odds with many of her flesh-baring peers and nowhere is this demonstrated better than through her TV performances – where the music, rather than the outfits, unleash her smouldering sexuality. On this front her TV plugger – Craig McNeil from Beggars – has played something of a blinder. It would have been McNeil who got Adele on to that Jools Holland show and who also secured her the Brits slot. Her music has also made its way on to all sorts of emotional TV montages, a particularly memorable one being a tear-jerker on this year's Comic Relief. The internet era may have made music accessible to all, but only on TV can songs be given the kind of emotional backdrop to unite such a broad audience at once.

 

You get the feeling even XL weren't prepared for this. After all, Adele's upcoming tour will see her playing such enormodome venues as, er, Shepherd's Bush Empire and Leicester's De Montfort Hall – hardly venues fit for a star who has just knocked Madonna off her perch.

 

Still, this just adds to the Adele story – an ordinary girl genuinely shocked to be living the kind of "dream" that shows such as The X Factor promise but can never truly deliver. It is perhaps this unexpected nature to her success that makes it sweetest of all.

 

Pixie Lott a soul singer? LOL.

Pixie Lott a soul singer? LOL.

 

More like soul-less singer ;)

 

Suffice to say, you probably would not see her cycling around a TV studio singing about Diet Coke.

 

:lol: Maybe that's why Duffy ddin't do well this time around.

yes, I do accept all this and Adele is worthy of her success etc. but I'm just a little bit bored of her now :(

"displaying diva-like confidence yet wearing her heartache on her sleeve" this just sums her up, so true..

 

I never even realised she doesn't play festivals.. i suppose it wouldn't really work because most of her songs are ballads but i'm hoping she does a few this time around cos she's got set fire to the rain and rolling in the deep etc which are a bit more upbeat.

her success is so richly deserved....no gimmicky videos, no auto-tuning and no huge hype needed neither

long may she reign!!

her success is so richly deserved....no gimmicky videos, no auto-tuning and no huge hype needed neither

long may she reign!!

 

"displaying diva-like confidence yet wearing her heartache on her sleeve" this just sums her up, so true..

 

I never even realised she doesn't play festivals.. i suppose it wouldn't really work because most of her songs are ballads but i'm hoping she does a few this time around cos she's got set fire to the rain and rolling in the deep etc which are a bit more upbeat.

 

'Rolling In The Deep' upbeat?? :huh:

'Rolling In The Deep' upbeat?? :huh:

 

of course it is.. especially compared to the stuff on 19 apart from cold shoulder. it's definitely a song i can see her playing at a festival because it's uptempo and has a great beat to it. the songs from 19 were pretty much all ballads and if she played them at a festival it'd just be her on a stool and the crowd all standing there whereas with a song like rolling in the deep it's a song people can really tap their feet and sing along to.

of course it is.. especially compared to the stuff on 19 apart from cold shoulder.

 

I didn't realise you were comparing them to her previous songs, rather than charting songs in general.

Yeah, Rolling in the Deep isn't very upbeat in comparison to the rest of the chart, although it is more upbeat than songs like Broken Record, Someone Like You and I Need a Doctor, and I'm pretty sure Broken Record and I Need a Doctor have been/will be performed at festivals, so I'm sure Rolling in the Deep could be pulled off.

 

Not sure about Someone Like You. They'd at least need some percussion in it. :lol:

What a great article. Really enjoyed reading it

 

Pixie has a soulful voice but her music isn't soul.

I cannot take this article seriously all those singers including Adele are pop singers not Soul singers.To even include Pixie who strains to hit high notes is a joke it kind of reminds me of what Estelle said.

 

"Singling out Adele and Duffy, who she knocked off the number one spot at the weekend, she says: "I'm not mad at them, but I'm wondering - how the hell is there not a single black person in the press singing soul? Adele ain't soul. She sounds like she heard some Aretha records once, and she's got a deeper voice - that don't mean she's soul. "

 

I am pleased for Adele but I think the basis of why she has done so well is two things.It is ridiculous to make a snide remark about the X-factor.Adele has been a constant in the charts due to X-factor and mostly Gamus rendition of Make you Feel My Love.Her video and radio airplay has been rather strong because of that so she was never forgotten.

Secondly her record company picked a brilliant debut single to launch her album Rolling in the Deep is brilliant, radio friendly, appeals to all age groups and shows her voice off perfectly, her publicity has been on point and she has been everywhere promoting.I think she is so refreshing compared to too many of her peers who either mime-Cheryl or cannot sing live well-Katy.

Edited April 7, 201114 yr by marrb

No huge hype? Are you for real? LMAO!

I cannot take this article seriously all those singers including Adele are pop singers not Soul singers.To even include Pixie who strains to hit high notes is a joke it kind of reminds me of what Estelle said.

 

"Singling out Adele and Duffy, who she knocked off the number one spot at the weekend, she says: "I'm not mad at them, but I'm wondering - how the hell is there not a single black person in the press singing soul? Adele ain't soul. She sounds like she heard some Aretha records once, and she's got a deeper voice - that don't mean she's soul. "

 

I am pleased for Adele but I think the basis of why she has done so well is two things.It is ridiculous to make a snide remark about the X-factor.Adele has been a constant in the charts due to X-factor and mostly Gamus rendition of Make you Feel My Love.Her video and radio airplay has been rather strong because of that so she was never forgotten.

Secondly her record company picked a brilliant debut single to launch her album Rolling in the Deep is brilliant, radio friendly, appeals to all age groups and shows her voice off perfectly, her publicity has been on point and she has been everywhere promoting.I think she is so refreshing compared to too many of her peers who either mime-Cheryl or cannot sing live well-Katy.

 

 

so you've dismissed the article because of the examples they give of current female pop singers??that wasn't the point of the article.it was to highlight the differences between adeles sucess and other pop stars who market themselves differently!!if you think attention wouldn't have been focused on adele anyway without the reemergence of 'make you feel my love' i would have to counter you!!

I cannot take this article seriously all those singers including Adele are pop singers not Soul singers.To even include Pixie who strains to hit high notes is a joke it kind of reminds me of what Estelle said.

 

"Singling out Adele and Duffy, who she knocked off the number one spot at the weekend, she says: "I'm not mad at them, but I'm wondering - how the hell is there not a single black person in the press singing soul? Adele ain't soul. She sounds like she heard some Aretha records once, and she's got a deeper voice - that don't mean she's soul. "

 

I am pleased for Adele but I think the basis of why she has done so well is two things.It is ridiculous to make a snide remark about the X-factor.Adele has been a constant in the charts due to X-factor and mostly Gamus rendition of Make you Feel My Love.Her video and radio airplay has been rather strong because of that so she was never forgotten.

Secondly her record company picked a brilliant debut single to launch her album Rolling in the Deep is brilliant, radio friendly, appeals to all age groups and shows her voice off perfectly, her publicity has been on point and she has been everywhere promoting.I think she is so refreshing compared to too many of her peers who either mime-Cheryl or cannot sing live well-Katy.

 

Perry can sing live. I have seen and heard for myself and it completly changed my opinion. And who cares what Estelle thinks? Nobody outside of Buzzjack even remembers or cares who that bint is.

 

Sorry nothing against you, I just had to nitpick the Perry thing :P I totally agree that the X Factor and the fact that she has had pretty flawless promotion and the overall quality of the tracks have increased tenfold are contributing factors.

Perry can sing live. I have seen and heard for myself and it completly changed my opinion. And who cares what Estelle thinks? Nobody outside of Buzzjack even remembers or cares who that bint is.

 

Sorry nothing against you, I just had to nitpick the Perry thing :P I totally agree that the X Factor and the fact that she has had pretty flawless promotion and the overall quality of the tracks have increased tenfold are contributing factors.

 

 

Fair point, I have not seen Katy Perry live only seen her on X and Chatty Man and she was really not good.

Adele had been absent from the charts for a while before MYFML which gave her public profile and music a huge boast.

Her promotion has been flawless shame other labels do not learn from this.

No huge hype? Are you for real? LMAO!

 

yep.