Adele
21

She is the ultimate anti-diva, the embodiment of youth without glitter and sequins, the human redemption from the pomposity of clubs; she is to Lady Gaga what Volga caviar is to discount soda.

Adele Laurie Blue Adkins is a bitter pill for today's femmes fatales, all glitz, lust, and eardrum-shattering sound: a young Englishwoman robust, calm, with retro Etta James style hairstyles, Disney-like doe eyes, clothing that doesn't quite reflect contemporary extravagance and eccentricity, virgin-like purity and sobriety. Considering the redundant musical-media exaggerations by the bold Germanotta and the mass approval flowing into her major's treasury, it would be unthinkable for someone so far from the spotlight to receive acclaim even in the States, emigrated from the ghetto to the discotheques. Nevertheless, the album 21 is the musical triumph of 2011, has swept away the competition of dance queens, proposing a good selection of simple, immediate, well-constructed tracks, full-bodied, dense with pathos and emotions, a tangible demonstration that success, talent, a natural look, and anti-catwalk outfits can coexist without too much friction and produce high-quality music.

The artist already came forward a few years ago - still a semi-teenager - with her debut work 19, as a new exponent of neo-soul. 21 is the ideal continuation of this bold intent: a vocal tone that is bright, sharp, warm and intense enveloping sumptuous soul-rock/alternative melodies, interspersed with sincere country, swing, and blues improvisations with a strongly retro and nostalgic flavor. The album's substance lies in the fullness of the ensemble, in the extraordinary combination of voice and instruments, and in the absolute absence of electronic and/or dance trappings, elements that denote the uniqueness of a work completely distinct from the current discotheque trend.

In the first selection of tracks Adele marries a predominantly melancholic soul/rock sound: Rumour Has It lays down a gothic rock-alternative march paired with heavy percussion, dark backing vocals, and a piano breakdown, Rolling In The Deep follows the same path without the previous one's rarefied aura; Set Fire To The Rain is once again built on light lyrical soul/rock melodies and full-bodied strings forging a notable marriage of emotions and atmosphere.

The baton then passes to pieces of almost exclusively acoustic-classical origin in which sudden and irregular vocal climaxes and "orchestral" vigor predominate, exacerbated especially in the numerous piano-vocal ballads: noteworthy is the heartrending Someone Like You, the gospel/soul flavor of Take It All, a tribute to the legendary black divas of the '50s, and the classical hyperbole of the romantic Turning Tables. Also remarkable are the country-blues outpourings: Don't You Remember, a calm ballad with a pop-rock aftertaste, If It Hadn't Been For Love, a simple guitar-vocal accompaniment and the verisimilar Hiding My Heart, also completely acoustic, devoid of percussion. Finally, pleasing are the soul/blues with occasional retro R&B inflections in One And Only and the funky-inspired I'll Be Waiting.

This is the album of the girl barely twenty-something challenging the big names of today's ostentation. And she is tearing them apart one after another, unearthing almost forgotten simplicity and basicness, hidden between strobe lights and boozy encounters.