Lykke Li + Adele

I have such love for their debut albums--both of which were the soundtrack to my life at one point. Putting on make up, drinking, getting ready to go out in search of adventures? Youth Novels. Riding the bus, catching the tube, tuning out other people and tourists while shopping, or feeling homesick for London because you're getting ready to leave? 19.

Both albums define a specific year of my life which lends even more weight to their greatness for me. I wondered how their next endeavors would measure up.

How could anything be as epic, lovelorn and grand as Youth Novels? And how do you follow up 19?

You grow up apparently.

LYKKE LI - WOUNDED RHYMES

a natural evolution

Wounded Rhymes is a darker and grittier progression from where Lykke Li left off with Youth Novels. No longer coy and girlish but brash and bold. This isn't anymore obvious than in her first single "Get Some" where she purrs, 'don't pull your pants before I get down [...] I'm your prostitute, you gon' get some.'

"Dream of times when you were mine...sadness is a blessing, sadness is my boyfriend, oh sadness I'm your girl." Still lovelorn and lush and full of wishful longing, but now reminiscent of a sixties girl group meets Joni Mitchell but hungrier.

She's just as appealing and fierce when she's making softer, more wistful propositions a la "I Know Places", a pared down acoustic affair not unlike "Tonight".

It's an album of contradictions but it never once feels false or inorganic.

Rating: Amazing. Invest in the vinyl and bemoan the fact that you won't get to see her live.

ADELE - 21

growing pains

I've been listening to her performance of 'Someone Like You' on Jools Holland obsessively for months now and was positive 21 was going to be every bit as brilliant. After the opening track, "Rolling In The Deep", a thundering, big number evocative of the Ronettes or the Supremes or [insert suitable 60s girl group here]; I was sure this album was going to surpass 19.

Only it didn't. It stutters and stumbles along--veering from forgettable songs to bland ballads until suddenly a song so good it hurts appears ("Set Fire To The Rain" "One and Only").

This album's great flaw though is poor production values. Adele's voice is muted on some tracks not nearly as dramatic and effective as she's been in the past. "Someone Like You", which closes the album, is a shadow or more accurately a tarted up version of its original self. "Do You Remember" falls victim to the same problems. The live acoustic versions (offered as bonus tracks on some versions of the album) are stunning, and 21 would be a completely different record had they been used.

When unhindered by slick production or Adele's new found inspiration (the American south, Lady Antebellum, etc), the music is timeless and shows just how much she's grown in the intervening years since 19.

Rating: Fairly good. Stick with the copy your friend burnt for you and shell out to see her live when she's touring this summer.

They'll both be doing Unplugged Sessions--Adele for VH1 (you can watch online now) and Lykke Li for MTV (it won't air until next month)--to promote their new albums.