Global superstar Adele has released a new video for her next single “Oh My God,” from her latest album 30. The clip reunites Adele with director Sam Brown who directed her 2010 video for “Rolling In The Deep.”  The video’s energy and movement underscore the song’s immediate and sultry tone as Adele asserts “I know that it’s wrong, but I want to have fun.” The album continues to dominate the charts around the globe, released last November as the biggest selling album of 2021 in the UK, featuring the smash hit single ‘Easy On Me.’ The album continues to dominate the public consciousness, having dominated the charts since its release, alongside widespread critical acclaim from the likes of Rolling Stone. Read our full review of the album here.

Adele will kick off her Las Vegas residency – Weekends with Adele  – next weekend on 21st January 2022, ahead of performing in London this summer at BST Hyde Park, marking her return to the UK, alongside The Eagles, Elton John, Little Big Town and others.

The post WATCH: Oh My God – Adele appeared first on off the record.

[tps_title] 21. Drake, Certified Lover Boy [/tps_title]

Drake does not reinvent the wheel on Certified Lover Boy, but he does continue to prove why he is one of the biggest artists around as he continues to shell out hit after hit. It’s a familiar and worthily phenomenal record.

Stand-out Track: Way 2 Sexy

The post Off the Record’s Best 21 Albums of 2021 appeared first on off the record.

When you’re a name as widely known as Adele, the hype around a record can sometimes be greater than the album itself. 30 – the first album by Adele after a nearly six year hiatus, was one of the, if not the most hotly anticipated album of the year. After the release of the lead single ‘Easy on Me’ hit the number one spot for over a month, the noise around the album was amplified rather than diminished, followed by the release of an American and UK TV specials. The reviews for the record amped this up yet more, yet one listen to the record proves that no review can put into words the emotion depth of 30, a flawless album that shows Adele’s ability to innovate, yet continue to showcase the exceptional vocal that no words can pay justice to. As has been widely publicised, 30 documents the dark hours after Adele’s divorce from her husband and the father to her son – Angelo. It’s more than that though, it’s a letter to herself and to her son, explaining her choices and it’s simply transcendent. Opening with the extraordinary line on ‘Strangers by Nature,’ ‘I’ll be taking flowers to the cemetery of my heart / For all of my lovers, in the present and in the dark.’ As an opener, the track lyrically and sonically invites in a new era for Adele – the only track produced by Ludwig Göransson – is a stunningly, nostalgic track reminiscent of old school Hollywood. It’s a melancholic headspace she establishes from the start, but a slower moment allowing her to sit her stride, before she says, ‘Alright, I’m ready.’ Ready to pour her heart out. 

‘Easy On Me’ narrates the moment of her divorce as she explains to her son and herself, ‘There ain’t no room for things to change / When we are both so deeply stuck in our ways.’ It’s already a mammoth hit and was the natural choice to lead out the album release, an easy stand-out from the record. There follows a string of heart-wrenching tracks narrating the dark times of her divorce, produced by long-time collaborator, Greg Kurstin. ‘A Little Love’ is almost painfully intimate and real, broken up with conversations both with her son, Angelo and with a friend. ‘I feel like today is the first day since I left that I feel lonely / And I never feel lonely, I love being on my own.’ ‘Cry Your Heart Out’ offers the first groovier moment of the record, in which Adele offers a lighter touch to her track that takes her darkest moments as its theme, before leading into ‘Oh My God.’ The track is the second single from the record, narrating the first moments she began to feel ‘ok’ after her divorce, a potent mix of anxiety and hope in a new relationship. ‘Oh my god, I can’t remember / Who I was just last December / What have I done, how did I get here?’ There’s a funky baseline to the track that elevates it to something interesting, a new edge for Adele. 

‘Can I Get It,’ produced by Max Martin, is one of the bigger bops on the record, another easy stand-out in which Adele sings out the toxins of the earlier half of the record, a slick, grooving melody with a poised and polished production, leading into an early fan favourite ‘I Drink Wine’ – a classic, tear-jerking ballad. It’s a track that showcases the raw power of Adele’s vocals that has not diminished over the years, a rich tenor that pours so much emotion into the song about trying to claw out of the depths of her hardest moments. 

On the latter third of the record, a new influence is brought into the equation, with fellow Londoner Info producing most of this final part of 30 – ‘Woman Like Me,’ ‘Hold On’ and ‘Love Is a Game.’ These moments are some of her most powerful when she lingers in the insecurity of a new relationship and lays her heart and soul bare. It’s a poised moment that in its quieter moments showcases the rich qualities of her vocal in new and unexpected ways, whilst ‘Hold On’ offers a graceful convergence of pop and real soul, with a blues edge and on ‘Love Is a Game’ – another surefire hit – Adele trades off stunning vocals. 

‘To Be Loved’ is the jewel in the crown of 30 – an almost painfully raw and vulnerable moment – that shows Adele as an artist who can not be underestimated. ‘To be loved and love at the highest count / Means to lose all the things I can’t live without / Let it be known that I will choose to lose / It’s a sacrifice, but I can’t live a lie.’ Her vocal and lyrical depth are simply staggering in the real decision to end her marriage. There has been much ink spilled already in that Adele will not perform the song live, due to its pain, and she pours that real emotion into the studio recording that threatens to buckle under that emotional weight.

30 is a masterfully produced and delivered record, full of the powerhouse ballads we have come to expect from Adele, yet adding a rich, interesting note to the record, through the infusion of greater influences that pivot Adele into the next era of her music. Adele has poured the heartbreak of the past few years, from her divorce to the early days of a new relationship into a phenomenal album, just when we thought she couldn’t be beaten by her last offering.

The post ALBUM REVIEW: 30 – Adele appeared first on off the record.

Superstar, Adele has announced two dates next year at London’s Hyde Park – 1st July 2022 and 2nd July 2022. The news follows the announcement of her highly anticipated new album 30 out November 19th and the release of the lead-out record-breaking single ‘Easy On Me.’

The performances on Friday 1 July and Saturday 2 July at American Express® presents BST Hyde Park will be her first UK live shows since 2017.

Fans can sign up to access pre-sale now at adele.com which begins at 10am on Thursday 28 October. American Express ® Cardmembers can access presale tickets from 10am, Friday 29 October.

Tickets go on general sale from 10am, Saturday 30 October.

Due for release in November, ‘30’ will be Adele’s fourth album and will be the first new music since 2015. Its release sparks a resurgence in streams of her back catalogue, sending two more of her hits back into the Top 40 this week. Adele’s past albums continue to climb the charts as we move closer to the release of 30 next month. 25 jumps three places to reach Number 3, while 21 jumps eight places to Number 6 and 19 vaults 39 places to Number 15.

The post Adele Announces Two Dates at Hyde Park – London appeared first on off the record.