Okay, it is officially a trend. Britain has created a machine. This machine takes female singer/songwriters give them some sass and some pop percussion and bam! the whole world falls in love. The latest offering is Adele; who now shares a spot alongside Kate Nash, Lilly Allen, and Uffie. Or as my friend Bregan put it, “It’s kate nash, lilly allen and amy winehouse wrapped into one.”

Let me tell you what I love about these artists. First, they cuss. Adele is a bit more sub-dued than the other singers mentioned, but on her hit song she does say shit, which is okay in my book. Second, they are British. In fact they sound like they are really trying to be British. Everyone always points out that most British singers lose their accent when they sing and all you hear is the international language of song. Put on a Kate Nash track and you’ll feel like you are in a Guy Ritchie film. Third, they are good. The music is just good; they’ve figured out how to make catchy music and solid hooks; it just all fits.

I’ll give some credit here to my friend Jon Luskin who first put Adele into my speakers a month ago when he made me a mix of his favorite songs from KCRW’s Morning Becomes Eclectic. But I didn’t pay too much notice to a good song on a good mix cd until this week when her album came out. iTunes tried to claim that they were the ones to break her; look, they said, we had her as a single of the week months ago. Good for you iTunes (I’m sorry for the hostility but iTunes has been pumping their New Release wall with christian and gospel for the last few months. And not that I’m against christ or spiritual music, but that kind of music generally doesn’t belong on the new release wall. Unless your first name is Sufjan keep your Christian rock band to the youth group stage.).

So I’m going to hit you with some mellow stuff today. The first track is her spotlight song, the one that is going to hook you. The next track is simply my favorite off the album. Oh, don’t forget to buy the album if you like the music: Adele – 19 at Amazon.com. Amen.

Adele – Hometown Glory

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Adele – Hometown Glory

Adele – Tired

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Adele – Tired