6.

2007: AN ADELE ODYSSEY

Adele was now officially an artist on XL. But four months before the signing made front-page news, Adele was already causing a major stir.

Later … with Jools Holland had been a BBC institution long enough for Adele to have been a regular viewer as a young child. This showcase for established and on-the-rise music personalities had always been a tough nut to crack, and it was next to impossible to land an appearance without a record deal. But when Alison Howe, producer of Later … with Jools Holland, heard Adele’s three-song demo, she jumped at the chance to make Adele that all-too-rare exception to the rule.

Adele was thrilled at the invite. When she found out that she would be sharing the program with Paul McCartney and Bjork, she recalled that she was suddenly “sick and terrified.” Normally Adele would close her eyes when singing, but she was in such a state on this night that her eyes remained wide open during her emotional rendition of “Daydreamer.”

“They usually put you in the middle of the room,” she related in an interview with The Guardian. “But, for some reason, they put me on the end, right in front of the audience, with Bjork on my left and Paul McCartney on my right. My mum was in the audience and she was crying right in front of me. I met them (Bjork and McCartney) afterwards and I couldn’t stop crying.”

Adele’s appearance on the show had the desired effect. Her growing legion of local London followers tuned in to see one of their own perform for the first time on network television. Those tuning in primarily to see McCartney and Bjork were most likely happily surprised at the performance by this unknown singer. XL was thrilled with the feedback and exposure, and smug in the idea that an unknown singer with no record to promote could land such a prestigious slot.

The next step was to begin getting the word out beyond the group of hipsters that had gotten her this far.

Which meant getting a record out. And it would be a very small step. When he was not putting out new music on the XL label and under the management umbrella of September Management, Jamie T ran a small boutique label called Pacemaker Records. Pacemaker was known for small runs of hip artists and had become the go-to source for hipsters looking for a first look at the next big thing.

On October 22, 2007, Pacemaker released Adele’s first recorded effort, a two-sided seven-inch record featuring the songs “Hometown Glory” and “Best For Last.” For a DIY indie effort, the record was more than a mere calling card for an emerging talent. Both songs showcased Adele as a largely formed talent with songwriting skills and a voice that was all the more powerful in this stripped-down musical setting.

The limited edition, five-hundred-record run became an instant collector’s item and, while the single did not make the charts, it plugged into some good word of mouth.

“I couldn’t believe how well that song did,” she told Spyder’s Random Things. “I’m so flattered that it was received so well because it was the first song that I ever wrote.”

The Adele train had officially left the station.

The last two months of 2007 were a blur of activity. She was meeting with superstar producers, the likes of Mark Ronson, who had recently made magic with Amy Winehouse and the solid pop stylist Jim Abbiss. She was rounding into shape on new songs and keeping her performing chops up with sporadic shows in and around London. Word of mouth had quickly made Adele the one to see in a live setting, but she took great pains to just be part of the overall vibe of a show and not the uncrowned queen-of-pop-music in waiting.

She proved particularly adept at soothing a wild crowd at the Kings Road club Scala when, after rapper Lethal Bizzle had worked the audience into a frenzy, Adele calmly walked onto the stage carrying a guitar and a beer and broke up the audience when she indicated that she loved seeing an audience breathe. On a much grander scale, on the first night of the popular Electric Proms festival, she upstaged performances by members of The Charlatans and Kaiser Chiefs with a powerful performance that already had the press trumpeting her as the next Amy Winehouse.

Although flattered at the notion of being compared to someone of Winehouse’s caliber, Adele was instinctively leery of such accolades and would continue to take great pains to emphasize her individual skills and be just as quick to dismiss critics who had already hinted that her favored status in signing with XL and the prime shot on Later … were part of a calculating venture to manufacture a pop star.

As busy as her life was becoming, Adele remained loyal to her circle of musicians and friends. When label-mate Jack Peñate suggested that she might want to contribute some backing vocals to his song “My Yvonne,” she was in the studio like a shot. Working with a friend in a professional setting was the proverbial busman’s holiday for the singer who fancied the notion of playing a supportive counter to her close friend’s effort.

Adele turned in a sold-out charity performance at the annual MENCAP Little Noise Sessions on November 22, when she was part of an all-star lineup that included her personal favorites Will Young and Damien Rice. She talked to BBC Newsbeat prior to her performance about playing with people she admired, in particular the very first Pop Idol (the forerunner of American Idol) winner Will Young, and how nervous she was at the prospect of performing in such an intimate setting.

“I’m excited as well, but I’m really nervous. You can’t really talk in the venue, so people are going to be concentrating on what I’m doing. My mum’s coming, and four of my friends and their girlfriends. They usually heckle but, if they do it here, I will personally get offstage and punch them.”

With the holidays approaching, Adele continued to be the apple of the UK media’s eye. December 7 saw the singer in top form as she mesmerized the Friday Night with Jonathan Ross television audience with a powerful rendition of “Chasing Pavements” and some spirited, good-natured patter.

Three days later, Adele would receive the first of many honors when the newly inaugurated category of the BRIT Critics Choice Awards honored Adele as the best emerging British talent that had not yet released a debut album. She acknowledged to Digital Spy, “I was a bit shocked. I didn’t know anything about the award until I won it. But they’re saying I’m good.”

Adele had been surprised by the news because she had voluntarily gone into seclusion at the tail end of the year, rehearsing but basically enjoying the season and sticking close to home. “Over Christmas and New Year, I was with my mum and we weren’t paying much attention to what was going on,” she offered Spyder’s Random Things. “I didn’t notice the hype and I wasn’t reading the press.”

Adele would continue to revel in this first brush with popular acceptance, acting more the young inexperienced girl than anything resembling a seasoned performer.

“I’m really flattered to have won in this new category,” she told The Guardian. “It’s fantastic to have lots of people supporting me.”

But winning the Critics Choice Award would not be a total lovefest. The first hint of a backlash came almost immediately with charges that the fledgling singer had been given this first-time-ever award because Adele had come from The BRIT School and that this was the first step down the road of becoming a manufactured pop star. Adele was uncomfortable with the criticism, as well as the idea of winning an award before even a first record was available and, not long after the ceremony, turned to singer and friend Robbie Williams for a pep talk.

“Robbie told me that the prize was a leg up,” she told the Daily Mail, “and that it put me in a position where people would now listen to me. That helped.”

The irony of closing out the year with this award was not lost on Adele. In less than thirty days she would not have qualified. Because in less than thirty days, the world would be hearing Adele’s first album.