Adele’s “30”: Track-by-Track Review
On November 19, global music superstar Adele released her fourth studio album. Entitled 30, the album is a lyrically raw and sonically innovative exploration of her tumultuous personal life. Here, I provide a brief primer on Adele and her latest album before delving into a track-by-track review (including the album’s elusive bonus tracks.)
Adele: A Brief History
In case you have been living under a rock for the last decade and are unschooled in the wonders of Adele, here is a brief primer.
Adele Laurie Blue Adkins was born in the Tottenham district of London on May 5, 1988. Her father left when she was 2-years-old and she was raised by her mother. She began singing when she was 4 and had her talent nurtured at the BRIT School for Performing Arts and Technology, which she graduated from in May 2006.
Shortly after graduation, Adele self-published a pair of songs and recorded a three-track demo that a friend subsequently uploaded to MySpace. Richard Russell, the head of the music label XL Recordings, heard the songs and eagerly signed her. She met producer Jim Abbiss while laying vocals down for a fellow artist and he produced most of her first album, 19.
The album, which started her trend of naming her collections after the age she was when she wrote them, was released in January…
