Is there anyone more deserving of smashing global success than Adele?
She’s lovely, sublimely talented, and down-to-earth — and her sound has evolved from 19‘s highly listenable but rather unassuming adult-contemporary pop to 21‘s striking collection of enormous, earth-shaking four-minute soul-inflected masterpieces.
But American audiences are notoriously fickle, especially to the more sophisticated end of the pop spectrum that the Brits keep gamely producing. This makes it even more of a pleasant surprise to see that Adele has stormed the U.S. charts, snagging the #1 spot on the Billboard 200 and selling over 352,000 copies, marking the largest sales for any release since last November.
Sales were no doubt bolstered by a string of well-publicized appearances on Ellen, Jimmy Kimmel, Chelsea Lately, and The Early Show — but Adele’s chart success also feels like a thrillingly meritocratic reception for an artist who genuinely deserves it.
And I can’t think of a better way to celebrate Adele’s hard-earned success than with a stunning new remix from Chicago DJ Johnny Lawson, who has breathed new life into Adele’s instant classic “Rolling In the Deep.”
In Lawson’s capable hands, the pounding Paul Epworth-produced track gets a ’90s house makeover, complete with thrilling tribal beats and the best everything-but-the-kitchen-sink instrumentation I’ve heard in a minute.