If you like Adele, I strongly recommend you check out Emeli Sandé's Our Version Of Events
Here's the editorial review from allmusic:
Here's the editorial review from Amazon:
Here's the editorial review from allmusic:
In 2012, Brit's Critic Choice Award, a best new artist prize for the United Kingdom's best talent, unsurprisingly went to Emeli Sandé, a woman being lauded for her crystalline voice and her immaculate songwriting skills. By the time her debut album, Our Version of Events, hit shelves, Sandé had already been a number one-selling singer and songwriter, and had her work covered by names such as Tinchy Stryder, Alesha Dixon, and Susan Boyle. Many call the 24-year old starlet a jack-of-all-trades, and after listening to her first full-length debut, it's easy to understand why. Events skip from genre to genre breezily, often being carried by Sandé's piercing voice. Sonically, the album sounds like a whisked-blend of Leona Lewis, Kate Bush, and Alicia Keys -- but, somehow, Sandé still establishes her own style between the airy coos, sultry piano melodies, and sprinkling of xylophones, synths, and bells. Sandé's strongest tracks are such a mixed-bag -- the Professor Green-spinoff "Read All About It (Part III)" is a raw interpretation of the massive pop single, "Lifetime" is a midtempo love song that's as engaging as a close listen as it is late at night, and the electrifying first single "Heaven" has all the makings of a vibrant dance record slicked up for the floor. A true feature of this album is the sheer quality of the compositions, which, for lack of a better term, are unexpectedly sophisticated and nuanced for a mainstream record. What holds the album back in parts is the fact that its tempo is too slow at times, however, Sandé makes up for it with passion and precision. Our Version of Events is an earnest collection of works by a woman who is as good a composer as she is vocalist, a lethal combination in today's pop music business. In this case, the Critic's Choice Award was well deserved.
Here's the editorial review from Amazon:
While still a teenager, Emeli Sandé got her first big break as a singer and songwriter as she was named a contest winner for a BBC songwriter contest and record-deal offers soon started pouring in. But instead of signing to a label, Sandé put her music career on hold and embarked on a six-year degree in medicine. Studying at Glasgow University, she specialized in clinical neuroscience cause I really like all the brain stuff. As evidenced on her debut album Our Version of Events, she holds a deep affinity for all the heart stuff and soul stuff as well. Defying categorization, she appeals to fans of pop, credible singer-songwriters, soul, dance and everything in between. She has already had an amazing 12 months as her album debuted at #1 in the UK in February and she has had four songs from that album chart high on the UK singles chart, while guesting on four others that charted Top 10 for other artists. She has also been lauded as a songwriter, penning songs for UK artists as varied as Leona Lewis and Susan Boyle, while being identified by none other than Simon Cowell as his favorite songwriter of the moment. She has caught the eye of diverse titans of the music industry with early admirers including Coldplay and Alicia Keys. The former tapped her to open their UK and European dates in December as well as a leg of their upcoming North American summer tour and the latter was so impressed after she opened for her in the UK last summer that she co-wrote and produced the track Hope from Our Version of Events and has been collaborating with Sandé for her own next album. Keys has also been effusive in her praise, telling Dazed and Confused she was a magnificent new artist... I just love her style and her flow super raw and Adele, upon viewing Sandè s performance of the track Next To Me on Jools Holland, was compelled to Tweet How incredible is she? Sandé won the coveted BRIT Critics Choice Award for 2012 awarded this past February and in an unprecedented twist, was also nominated as Breakthrough Artist at the BRITs as well.