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Adele · S1 E7
The Audition
She applies to the BRIT School for Performing Arts. The interview changes everything.
2003, a building in Croydon that looks more like a warehouse than a school. A fourteen-year-old from West Norwood walks through the doors of the BRIT School for Performing Arts, not to become a singer, but to learn how to discover one.
Adele, "I'll Be Waiting" (live at the iTunes Festival, 2011). Co-written with Paul Epworth, this is one of the few upbeat, optimistic songs on 21. Adele has said it's about admitting her own faults in a relationship and hoping for another chance. The horn-driven arrangement borrows from classic Memphis soul.
I'll Be Waiting
Adele described this as "quite a happy song, actually. It's me admitting my faults." Co-written with Paul Epworth, the production borrows from classic soul: horns, a walking bassline, and a rhythm section that swings. She cited Dusty Springfield as an influence on the track. The vocal sits right on top of the beat rather than behind it, giving the song a forward momentum that matches its theme of wanting to try again.
The School
The BRIT School for Performing Arts and Technology sits in Selhurst, Croydon: a free state school funded by the government and the music industry. No tuition, no entrance fees, no class barriers. Amy Winehouse left before Adele arrives, and the hallways are already full of future stars. Adele applies to study A&R, the department responsible for discovering and signing talent. She wants to find artists, not be one.
Sources
Adele, 60 Minutes, CBS, 2012
TAP TO REVEAL: What did Adele originally apply to study at the BRIT School?
“Getting signed was never an ambition. I knew I'd be involved in music somewhere but I never, ever, thought I'd be a recording artist.”
— Adele
The BRIT School
Free, state-funded, and responsible for producing more British pop stars per square foot than anywhere else on earth.
Which future star graduated from the BRIT School the year before Adele enrolled?
He Won't Go, Adele (2011)
From 21 (2011). A slow-building track about refusing to give up on someone, driven by a hypnotic guitar loop and a vocal that gets more insistent with every verse. Adele told The Sun in 2011 that the song is about watching a friend struggle with addiction and refusing to walk away from them.
He Won't Go, Adele (2011)
Read the lyrics while you listen. The stubbornness in every line is pure Adele. The vocal builds from quiet insistence to something that fills every corner of the room.
Adele walks into the BRIT School to become a talent scout. She walks out three years later with a record deal, a manager, and a debut single. Season 2 begins in Croydon, where the girl who came to discover artists becomes the artist everyone wants to discover.
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