Artist Of The Week: Adele

By this time, there is nary an ear that doesn’t ring with familiarity at the first notes of “Rolling in the Deep”, “Rumor Has It”, or “Somebody Like You”, and the person at the office who still has to ask who Adele is gets laughed out of the building. Is that an accurate yardstick for knowing you’ve made it? At her star’s peak, English superstar Adele decided to forsake her global success for the thing she sang about song after song—a family and a husband, something she’s devoted herself to even in the wake of her sophomore album’s enormous success. Just as it seems the closing notes of 21 are leaving our consciousness, Adele has poked her head back into the mainstream if only for a moment to release a new track that any crooner would be hard-pressed to turn down.

An institution as sacred at the films themselves, the theme to each and every James Bond film defines the installment both thematically and in its respective generation. Adele is the latest of an impressive roster of ladies who include Shirley Bassey and Nancy Sinatra to provide Mr. Bond with the proper background music for guns and women. Her contribution for this fall’s Skyfall release captures her signature, soulful style with a contemporary twist that ground the track in the present without dating the music style (we’re looking at you, Madonna in Die Another Day). It’s a heavy responsibility and one she hasn’t taken lightly—although she admitted to having no plans to release new material for at least two years after a pregnancy announcement in June, this call to action was too good. Much like the actors who play Bond, a preference is given to English artists when selecting a title track.

When her indie star began to rise with 2009′s 19, few people expected Adele to challenge genre, societal norms, and the music industry as she has, and this newest song is a testament and assurance that she’s become a fixture in modern media. With a baby on the way, a new life in Sussex with her husband, and James Bond residuals raining in, Adele’s got a lot to celebrate, and so do we! Listen in for Adele and the new Skyfall track all this week on WERS.

By Jamie Loftus

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