Last night: Adele performs new material at Largo, gives nods to Wanda Jackson and Lady Antebellum
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In 2008, Adele broke out with the Grammy-winning neo-soul hit ‘Chasing Pavements,’ but for her upcoming sophomore disc, the young English singer found herself running down a different sound.
Tuesday night at Largo at the Coronet, Adele previewed a handful of tunes from the new album (tentatively due out Feb. 22), telling the invite-only industry crowd that she’d been inspired in large part by American roots music -- specifically, the work of Wanda Jackson and Lady Antebellum.
The latter’s ‘Need You Now’ was all over the radio, Adele said, while she was recording in Malibu with producer Rick Rubin; she penned ‘Don’t You Remember’ as a sort of response. ‘It’s quite country,’ she said of the tune, which showcased her soaring vocals over a shuffling acoustic arrangement. ‘I’m thinking of going to Nashville to do some writing.’
Adele called ‘Rolling in the Deep,’ the upcoming disc’s lead single, her homage to Jackson; the rockabilly pioneer’s influence was easy to hear in the song’s booming beat and its tough-talking lyric: ‘Think of me in the depths of your despair.”
Backed by three members of her regular touring band, the singer also performed ‘Someone Like You,’ a heavy-hearted piano ballad that Adele said always leaves her ‘fumingly upset,’ and ‘Turning Tables,’ one of two tunes she co-wrote with Ryan Tedder of OneRepublic.
Following the fresh material, Adele obliged the audience with stripped-down renditions of ‘Chasing Pavements’ and ‘Hometown Glory,’ another hit from her debut, ’19.’ Then she was gone. ‘I’ve been chilling out for a while, and my voice has been dormant,’ she said, insisting that she didn’t have another number in her. ‘I think it’s [mad] at me.’
-- Mikael Wood
