Adele — NPR Tiny Desk, 2011

Live session by Adele for NPR Music’s Tiny Desk Concert, recorded at the American public-radio offices in Washington and published on 17 February 2011. The Tiny Desk’s signature intimate format places the artist behind Bob Boilen’s desk, stripped of production and close to the voice. At the time, Adele was just 22 but on the verge of global stardom with the album 21, released only weeks earlier. In a pared-down set — voice, guitar and keys — she performs Someone Like You, Chasing Pavements and Rolling in the Deep, revealing striking vocal power and interpretive precision in an acoustic setting. This filmed live performance, free of any studio gloss, foregrounds the soulful grain of her voice and her command of dynamics. For followers of pop soul and intimate live sessions, this historic capture documents Adele just before the explosion of 21, in one of the web’s most cherished live formats. A rare and essential record of the early days of one of her generation’s great voices, caught at a genuine turning point.