Cockney Sparra Adele has been touted as the next Winehouse/Allen/Nash (delete as approprate) and just narrowly missed out on the number one spot with her single Chasing Pavement.

Adele has now released 19, named for how old she is and it has already received critical acclaim – but does the album live up to the hype? I had to admit that I wasn’t very enamoured with Chasing Pavement – although she has a very good voice, the song itself was rather dull and lacked the spark of the female musicians she has been compared with.

There are are far better songs on the album than Chasing Pavement. Melt my heart to stone is a simple, extremely well-written song whilst Cold Shoulder has a striking resemblance to Massive Attack’s Unfinished Sympathy. Right as Rain is the most energetic song on the album with its reggae sounds whilst Hometown Glory is a good end to the album, a paean to the delights of London.

Some of the songs do blend into one another a bit but all in all this is a good album. Perhaps not as great as the critics are saying it is, but if you do like female singer-songwriters, this would be a good addition to your music collection.

Adele – 19(2008) (click to download)

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