Adele sprung back into her reign of cultural supremacy after the release of “Easy on Me'' on Oct. 15 broke world records. It achieved 24 million streams in one week.
The piano ballad showcased Adele in her brilliant comfort zone. Tones of heartbreak and hopelessness spill effortlessly through her voice and onto the track, furthering her artistry and preparing audiences for her upcoming album “30.”
While anticipation for her newest album is exciting, the rest of Adele’s music, from her initial singles to most recent work, have proved her to be one of the best artists to come from the 21st century.
Since 2008, each one of her releases has matured in style, grown in popularity and taken us further on her emotionally-relatable journey through life.
Her solo discography starts with the release of her 2008 singles “Chasing Pavements,” “Hometown Glory” and a few others that ultimately culminated to form her debut album “19,” titled after her age when she wrote her original songs.
This first album, characterized by an intimate, guitar-focused, beat-driven sound soared across social media and ultimately peaked at number one in its first week on the UK charts. Adele had quickly captured an audience with her incredible vocal quality and lyric-driven songs.
Adele was destined for stardom. After all, she trained at the BRIT School, whose alumni include Amy Winehouse and Kate Nash. But what made her even more impressive was her distinct vocal style. Her full, hearty, chest-driven belt punches through her instrumentals, while flips into a lighter head voice tie up and polish verses and ends of phrases. She was, and is, a unique singer that hasn’t tried to copy those that have come before her.
This sound is clearly refined and established in her next studio album, “21.” Perhaps her most famous album, it rocketed to number one on its first day and remained there for 11 straight weeks. It was clear Adele’s audience was engaged and excited to hear her new releases.
With songs like “Set Fire to the Rain” and “Rolling in the Deep,” her sound in “21” became vocally-driven with an impressive range of piano solos and full orchestral instrumentals. But the stories told in each one of her songs also reflect an innate human struggle with heartbreak.
Being the writer of many songs deemed “breakup anthems” — see “Someone Like You” and “Send My Love (to Your New Lover)” — there’s something about Adele’s music that easily translates to our sometimes dormant, but charged, emotions regarding love. Whether it’s unrequited or tied to an intense breakup, Adele expertly weaves these experiences into simple vocals that tug at each heartstring.
In 2012, she co-wrote “Skyfall,” the theme for the James Bond movie of the same name, firmly ensuring Adele as a household name. Few people get to work on a movie franchise so well-known globally, let alone compose the theme.
Her most recent album, “25,” which also peaked at number one in its first week, showed Adele fully basking in her glory. The standout hit and first track of the album, “Hello,” currently has more than 1 billion streams on Spotify, and ties back to her original piano centered sound. After pulling her audience in with her old sound, she brilliantly mixes in a beat-driven “Water Under the Bridge” and finishes the album accompanied with a choir in “Sweetest Devotion.”
There are many other metrics I could have used to measure Adele’s success. Anything from ticket sales to Twitter mentions would prove my point. But Adele’s true success lies in her actual art and how she weaves her killer voice and powerful lyrics into a unique style. This is what keeps people coming back, and what has clearly made her one of the most successful artists of the 21st century.
Stream “30” on Nov. 19. You won’t regret it.
