Music Review: Adele 21

Adele is all grown up.

Already a hit in the UK, 21, the follow up to her successful critically acclaimed 2008 debut 19, is an open book full of brokenhearted memories and candid piano-driven ballads.

21 opens with two mid-tempo songs, the single “Rolling in the Deep” and the track “Rumour Has It,” which features a fiery Adele over a straight drum beat as she proclaims to a former lover that the new woman he's chosen for himself is not a good fit.

“She, she ain’t real/she ain’t gone be able to love you like I will/she is a stranger, you and I have history or don’t you remember/sure she’s got it all but baby is that really what you want?”

The 22-year-old Grammy winning singer/songwriter effortlessly croons about her life lessons and romantic past with neck-swiveling sass and heartfelt vulnerability.

The most personal song on the album is the single “Someone Like You."  Backed by only a hypnotizing piano arrangement, Adele confesses her love to an old boyfriend and begs him not to forget her as she promises to find someone to take his place.

“I hate to turn up out of the blue uninvited but I couldn’t stay away, I couldn’t fight it/I hoped you’d see my face and that you’d be reminded that for me it isn’t over/Never mind, I’ll find someone like you/I wish nothing but the best for you two.”

Adele is both an old soul and ahead of her time.  As one of the most talented soul singers working today, she manages to sing about heartache and growing pains without playing the victim.

If 21 is any indication, it’s clear that Adele will only continue to get better with age.

21 hits US stores today.

You can check out Adele's tour dates here.

Watch Adele perform the weepy single "Someone Like You."