Easy On Adele
Like many song junkies I was chomping at the bit to hear Adele’s new single, “Easy On Me,” ...anticipating something at least as spectacle as “Rolling In The Deep” or “Rumor Has It.” After all, when you’re gone for a while that’s what you bring. (Of course for me nothing will ever be as who-is-that-girl? as 21’s “Chasing Pavements.”)
I pressed play.
Just because we expect something fancy doesn’t mean we’re gonna get it. But perhaps it’s smart for an artist to ease her way back in (no pun intended) with a track we’re not expecting or else one is predictable. But maybe she wasn’t trying to be smart. Maybe she was doing what an artist is supposed to do…not analyzing or calculating…just pulling back that curtain to reveal what’s going on in her life. At the moment. If it’s authentic it will resonate.
Still I had to ask myself if I was underwhelmed. But if you go to the fridge and ask yourself if you’re hungry you’re prolly not.
So while I was heading downtown on the NYC 1-train I listened again and I summoned myself to relax and just notice how the song made me feel. That’s all I really want a song to do…make me feel something I didn’t feel before I pressed play.
She’s asking her child for consideration. She’s ending the relationship with his father. Something kids usually don’t take lightly. They blame. They act out. So do you stay? Longer than you should have? You were too young to have made such a life-changing choice.
I’m all ears. I care.
She finds her way into my heart…that skip in her delivery at the beginning of a line…most likely the effect of a lingering vocal node. If you’ve had one (and I’ve had many) you recognize the air. She’s had ‘em too. Gotta be careful. That said…they can work in your favor aesthetically. 😳
Radio bombards me with voices I can’t tell apart. But Adele shows no effort to out-sing the plethora of melismatic pop-stars competing for chart position (whatever that even is anymore) or — the opposite — no effort to under-sing by emoting as softly as possible while still being audibly detectable. Sigh…this current trend makes me feel like the singer is trying to make me want to have sex with her voice.
Simplicity goes a long way. Adele need not appear on SNL as a musical guest and perform in a space suit or a garter belt. She can stand there and just sing because she’s that good. That mesmerizing. That classy. No multi-media light show flashing behind her. No twerking. She’s a modern day Barbra Streisand. God knows there was room for another.
Bob Lefsetz says “Easy On Me” isn’t a hit. Who cares? He’s checking the Spotify numbers. I guess that has to matter to the bank. To the pocket. To the ego. To the label! So maybe it’s not a hit. But I don’t need lobster soaked in butter sauce every night. Comfort food is just fine once in a while. Maybe this was her starter. Her mixed salad. Her melon and prosciutto.
Also…I’m an album girl. I look forward to what happens in between the love and the hate. The stay and the leave. And no doubt we’ll hear that lobster somewhere. (Maybe even a duet with Barbra. 😳OMG. Just kidding. Now that would be try-hard!)
But for now, in a world where we’re constantly assaulted by bright shiny objects everywhere competing for our attention or distraction (screens installed at the gas pump!) I welcome and respect the understatement.
So if you ask me if I like the song. Yes. I did. How about you?
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