What a difference two years can make. Last we heard from Adele she was riding the wave of her critically acclaimed and commercially successful debut 19. On her debut, Adele was able to turn the love and heartbreak of teenage love into pop and soul brilliance with her hit "Chasing Pavements". With her follow-up effort, 21, Adele illustrates how a couple of years of growing up-and a bad break-up-creates a contemporary soul album that is sure to beat the "sophomore jinx". Adele is still in top form vocally and you will be able to literally hear the growth in her bold, brassy voice. While the subject matter of 21 is similar to that of her debut, Adele is able to present it in a different manner with elements of blues, country, rockabilly, and bluegrass. Her songwriting is even more raw and heartfelt allowing Adele to transform love and heartbreak into another emotional musical journey for her listeners. Production-wise, Adele gets helps from heavy hitter producers Rick Rubin (no introduction needed), Paul Epworth (Florence and the Machine), and Ryan Tedder (One Republic) that convincingly translates into what Adele calls "heartbroken soul". The lead single "Rolling In The Deep" is a genius blues and gospel romp including foot stomping and hand-clapping. The more somber (and pop influenced) second single, "Set Fire To The Rain", is not outdone as the production melodically builds to the chorus that Adele's textured voice easily follows. Adele definitely breaks out of the soul box softening her voice and taking on contemporary R&B with "He Won't Go"; going country on "Don't You Remember"; and simply gospel with a piano and choir-style background vocals on "Take It All". The Rick Rubin produced cover of "Lovesong" (The Cure) Adele makes her own Brazilian jazz ballad. With each track on 21 Adele shows the natural progression of her music and her age. Even with common love and heartbreak fare, Adele can say the same thing twice-and tell a whole new story. In two years and another phenomenal album, Adele proves growing up is hard to do but she can make it sound so sweet.