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'19', Not Out

• Stuart Bailie
• 25 Jan 08, 11:23 AM

I’ve spent the morning listening to the new album, thinking that I’ll never have this kind of intimacy with the record again. As from Monday, ‘19’ is in the public domain and for the rest of the year you’ll hear it ceaselessly in bars and markets, on beaches and wine bars and ringtones.

Inevitably you will grow tired of it. It will be the record that people who don’t normally buy records say they like. The swooning refrains will be used in bad TV documentaries – at the very point when the premature baby is taken off the ventilator to die. And before long, these songs will become the staple of talent show auditions, as hopeless stage brats warble and Simon Cowell’s eyebrows go skywards.

But is that Adele’s fault? Not really. She’s got a bit of style and soul and she sings like she means it. Her songs reference the kind of sentiments we’ve all felt. That track 'Hometown Glory' is rather exceptional. And there’s nothing jarring on the record. That’s why it will be perfect for dinner parties.

I guess the hope is that Adele has a satisfying year, that she doesn’t go mad with the workload and the publicity. The ultimate hope is that albums two and three are a bit more dangerous and a little less .

Listen to tonight’s radio show at 10pm to preview some of the tracks.

Stu Bailie presents The Late show on Radio Ulster, every Friday from 10pm until midnight. See his playlist here.

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