Everybody Needs Some Adele Right Now

I started seeing the teases online a few weeks ago which surprised me because all we kept hearing from Adele’s camp was “she wasn’t ready yet.” She even confirmed that during her appearance last season on Saturday Night Live when she explained the reason she wasn’t the musical guest was that “her music wasn’t finished yet.” Still, she did not disappoint with her sketch of “The Bachelor” where she had a song (from previous albums) for everything, and the African Sex Tourism skit where she could barely keep it together due to her hysterical co-stars Kate McKinnon and Heidi Gardner. One of my favorite episodes for sure.

And hands down, one of my favorite “Carpool Karaoke” Episodes features Adele, where she tells James Corden the story of getting stood up by a friend at a Restaurant in London, getting drunk while she waits for him, paying for a family’s meal while desperately waiting for him to show up and meet her, and getting tickets to a show for the family from Nashville for one of her upcoming sold out concerts. But let’s not forget about her incredible ability during this episode to spit out, word for word, the Nicki Minaj rap from “Monster” in her deep British accent followed by her heartwarming cackle. If you haven’t seen this episode, it’s a “must watch.”

And I must admit, three of the best concerts of my life have been Adele, and I have over twenty plus years in the music business and have seen thousands of really good concerts.

But I digress, my point was, after seeing the teases for new music, my heart fluttered, but I didn’t trust it, simply because it’s been five years since she’s done anything musically or done any interviews and the last time around there were rumors that she was never going to tour again, a devastating thought for all Adele fans. She is like the “Millennial Dolly Parton.” An intellectual and emotional genius when it comes to songwriting, the voice of an angel, a unique and self-deprecating sense of humor, an ability to connect with just about anyone in existence, and the only stereotypical category she falls into is the “Girl Next Door” (with a thick British accent and potty mouth) category. She is not only adored by hundreds of millions of fans, but A-List musicians, artists, and celebrities cash in any favors they can just to be in the same room with her, much less see her in concert.

The good news is, the teases are real and this week, after 5 years of waiting, over 120 million records sold, 15 Grammy’s and nine Brit Awards, Adele is back with new music. And after hearing a preview of what’s to come, I feel a little better about the future. After hearing her preview on Insatgram, my heart did flutter a little and I got the goose bumps (or as my fellow Cajun’s like to call them, “the Frissons”). Just to hear her voice, and the tempo, and words that are so deep, but so relatable to so many in so many ways made me smile inside, and my comment out loud when it was over was “Straight Up Adele! And the world needs Adele right now.”

I say this because the last year and a half have been comparable to the movie “Bird Box” starring Sandra Bullock. When I saw it, I had nightmares for weeks, and every time I woke up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom, my first thought was, “I have to find a blind fold.” I was so stressed out. The one sentence used to describe the movie says it all. “When a mysterious force decimates the population, only one thing is certain…if you see it, you die.”

No matter what side you are on, the pandemic, election, economy, mask and vaccine mandates (or lack thereof), deaths, human stupidity, riots, social injustice, racism etc. of the past two years have more than doubled stress, anxiety, depression, suicidal tendencies, and health issues for hundreds of millions of people on earth. And Adele and the anticipation from the world to hear something new, yet familiar from her has eased the burden of today a little. She is one of the few people on this earth who can (for the most part) do no wrong, because even if she does, it’s unintentional, and she is the queen of turning, failure, pain and suffering into iconic melodies and songs that can move even the toughest of people to tears.

It’s only one single so far, but the full album "30" is expected to be released November 19th. All the signs are pointing to the fact that the world is ready, and everybody could use some Adele right now.