The Phenomenon

I became curious about the record-setting sales of a new musical album by Adele, a vocalist I had scarcely heard of. So I played Hello, the one she had put on YouTube as a way of promoting her work.

She's rather pretty, except for her inch-long claws, but she never holds still long enough for anyone to appreciate her beauty, because she is too busy shaking her hair around, trying to look windswept. She has an odd voice but I rather liked it, although she would rank low among my favorite female singers.

I certainly had my doubts about the music. The lyrics were, shall we say, adolescent. I could not find an adult thought in them. And she used editing and cinematography as crutches, a constant barrage of images that hid her performance, so no observer could see her actually singing. That's a pity. We have no way of knowing whether she is a true and distinguished performing artist. The various crutches interfere with her art.

She will make a lot of money, but I doubt that she will last long, because Adele really isn't there, on the disc. People are simply buying a lot of special effects. She will laugh all the way to the bank, which is fine. She calculated the ways that might bring her a pocketful of cash, and some temporary acclaim, but that will pass. In my eighty years I've seen a lot of empty people command the stage for a brief time, and then vanish.

Meanwhile the truly great artists, who need no gimmicks and who are magnetic under a spotlight, without all the junk, will be there, year after year.