Album review: Adele: 21 (XL)
IF that old adage about the second album being tricky is true, well, no one had the courtesy to tell Adele Adkins.
She has come back two years after her debut 19 (her age then, this is her age now) with an album that is if anything stronger than that Brit-winning, Grammy-nominated debut.
With Red Hot Chili Peppers’ Rick Rubin in the production chair for much of it the album shows Adele to be not only a brilliant songwriter but mistress of a voice stronger than a double espresso with none of the irritating wibbly “virtuosity” of her less talented contemporaries. The year’s first classic.
Verdict: 5/5