Hold on to your tissues — Adele is back and her new album is jam-packed with tearjerkers.
Adele/ 25
The return of Adele goes to show just how much the world had been gagging for her new album. And rightfully so, for it’s been four long years since we last basked in the brilliant glory of 21, her 2011 release which became nothing short of a global phenomenon.
Apart from casually breaking a few records here and there, it also won Adele six Grammy Awards in 2012 and became the best-selling album of the past decade. After what must have been an excruciating wait for her fans around the world, the 27-year-old British crooner finally emerged from her domestic bliss, bearing the gift that is the rather unimaginatively-titled third record, 25. Surely, by now we’ve all been bombarded with the inescapable first single Hello, a heartfelt piano ballad that guarantees to inspire the less emotionally stable among us to promptly reach for their phones and text their exes. The accompanying video, as simple and unelaborate as it is, has to date racked up more than 480 million views since it appeared on YouTube last month, leaving Taylor Swift, Katy Perry and Miley Cyrus scratching their heads in stunned disbelief. Such is the peerless power of Adele.
But how does the rest of the album fare? Well, if you’re into big, bold and meticulously-crafted break-up ballads, you won’t be disappointed. There are plenty of those on 25, each with varying degrees of effusive sentimentality (Remedy, Love in the Dark, All I Ask) and youthful nostalgia (When We Were Young, River Lea). As always, Adele has the pipes to match the massiveness of these songs with incredible ease.
After a seemingly endless barrage of piano-driven slow burners, an emotional respite arrives in the form of the refreshingly jaunty Send My Love (To Your New Lover), helmed by masters of chart-toppers Max Martin and Shellback. “Just the guitar pick,” Adele commands at the beginning, then the guitar flourishes into pure pop territory as she heartily sings: “Send my love to your new lover/Treat her better/We gotta let go of all of our ghosts/We both know we ain’t kids no more.”
The standout of the lot, though, is I Miss You, a collaboration with the highly prolific Paul Epworth. The song packs the most punch, with booming drums and macabre lyrics a la Florence + The Machine (“Bring the floor up to my knees/Let me fall into your gravity/And kiss me back to life to see/Your body standing over me”).
Despite being billed as a “make-up” record, 25 feels like the wound that fuelled her last album still hasn’t completely healed. Sure, there are moments of acceptance and resignation, but those are few and far between, and often get overshadowed by the prevailing melodrama. Adele’s still wallowing in the same old heartbreak which, after a while, becomes a bit tedious, not to mention emotionally taxing.
THE PLAYLIST
Jelly Rocket/ Jao Meow (Meow)
After giving us two singles, How Long and Luem (Forgotten), all-girl indie trio Jelly Rocket return with their latest, Jao Meow (Meow). The song finds vocalist Pun singing about the aftermath of a break-up over sprightly guitar chords and a muscular drum-synth breakdown. “I don’t have anyone to talk to/Even the kitty at home is sleeping, ignoring me,” she coos in her adorable vocals before finally coming to the bracing realisation: “There’s no one left/I guess I have to move on.”
Solitude is Bliss/ Rich Man’s War Poor Man’s Blood
Fresh off releasing their excellent five-track Montage EP last year, the Chiang Mai-based alt-rockers follow up with their debut studio record, Her Social Anxiety. The English-language first single, Rich Man’s War Poor Man’s Blood, is a politically-charged number in which frontman Thanaphol Chumkhammool paints a picture of social injustice. “A young boy was raised in slum/Lack of education, electricity/Clean water, the officer has fun,” he sings alongside scowling guitar riffs. “There’s poor man’s blood flooding in the rich man’s war.”
Jeff Buckley/ Everyday People
Best known for his morose cover of Leonard Cohen’s Hallelujah, the late singer-songwriter Jeff Buckley will have a new album added to his name following 1994’s Grace. Titled You and I, the posthumous compilation will feature Buckley’s early covers of well-known songs. Here we have the first taste of the album in the form of this pared down, acoustic version of Sly and the Family Stone’s ’60s classic Everyday People. The simple rendition means that Buckley’s spine-chilling voice shines through, reminding us what a tragic loss his death was and still is. Due out in March next year, the compilation will also include his covers of The Smiths’ The Boy With the Thorn in His Side, Led Zeppelin’s Night Flight and Bob Dylan’s Just Like a Woman.
School of Seven Bells/ Open Your Eyes
Following the death of the band’s co-founder Benjamin Curtis in 2013, School of Seven Bells’ remaining member Alejandra Deheza is gearing up to release their fourth and final studio album, SVIIB. Lead single Open Your Eyes is an uplifting, mid-tempo paean dedicated to the friendship between Deheza and Curtis. There’s a twinge of wistful sadness to the song, but at the same time it feels oddly comforting, like being submerged in a warm bath. “You’ll fall in love again,” Deheza offers us all a reassurance, but it’s likely meant more as self-consolation.
Grimes (featuring Janelle Monae)/ Venus Fly
Art Angels, the fourth album by Clair Boucher as Grimes, may not be as readily accessible as her last studio offering, but Venus Fly is definitely an exception. Featuring queen of futuristic soul-R&B Janelle Monae, the song is a fierce kiss-off to being objectified and scrutinised. “Why you looking at me now?/Why you looking at me again?” she snarls at her curious onlookers before firing out: “What if I pulled my teeth?/Cut my hair underneath my chin/ Wrap my curls all around the world.” Take that, you creeps!
