I’m not coming for her talent as a singer—her voice is stunning. And there’s plenty of songs of hers that I love. But realistically there’s absolutely no variety between albums.
19, 21, 25, and, likely as not based on the new single, 30, are all identical examinations of the same themes: heartbreak and regret. Granted, most artists make songs about that, but Adele shows no musical variety even. Everything is a wailing ballad with some piano accompaniment.
Consider ‘Chasing Pavements’, ‘Someone Like You’, ‘Hello’, and ‘Easy on Me’. Each a single from every album. What is the difference between them? Even the album covers are all the same—a close-up of her forlorn face, devoid of any detail. You could mix and match songs from every album to a brand new listener, presenting it as in cohesive record, and they wouldn’t hear any progression between them besides a slight ageing of her voice.
No experimentation, no reinvention, no evolving lyricism. At this stage in her career, and after so much success, I don’t think it’s too much to ask her to come up with something new. It’s the musical equivalent of a typecast actor, except she’s done it to herself and shows no signs of wanting to change.
Obviously it’s working well for her, but after 4 albums it’s tiresome now. I don’t understand the continued craziness that surrounds her anymore.
