Adele: 'Hometown Glory'

Following its play on the recent Series 2 finale of E4's Skins, cockney sparrow Adele's haunting ballad ‘Hometown Glory’ has earned itself a full single release.

After starting her career as a MySpace sensation, Adele’s love poem to her native Tottenham is the epitome of what she describes as “heartbroken soul”. What she has to be heartbroken over, as a 20-year-old who recently signed to Columbia Records and is touring the US, it's hard to tell, but let’s hope she stays gloomy if it means she continues to produce tracks of this quality.

Singing in a similar style to her idols Dusty Springfield and Etta James, 'Hometown Glory' has a timeless quality that could represent a generation for some, or at least stay on your local pub’s jukebox’s for the next ten years. The looping piano melody and Adele’s stoic voice make for a beautiful track, but it's her vivid descriptions of The Capital that give it life. She muses on ‘thick, opaque air’ and the cracks in the pavement of London, conjuring up summer in the city and producing a bitter-sweet quality.

Released on 14th July 2008 by XL.

Written by Carl Williams.