A Meatloaf Moment
October 23, 2015 3:43 AM   Subscribe

Watch Adele’s Emotional, Technologically Groundbreaking Video for “Hello”. The video stars The Wire’s Tristan Wilds.
posted by chavenet (50 comments total) 3 users marked this as a favorite
 
I started by watching the video, in a small window on my laptop, and was wondering what the groundbreaking technology was.... it took reading to find out it was iMax to get it.
posted by MikeWarot at 4:03 AM on October 23, 2015 [5 favorites]


It's filmed on IMAX cameras. I kept looking for some cool visual effect but all I kept seeing was flip phones and land lines and thinking 'this is high-tech?'. Rewatching without thinking about guessing what "technologically groundbreaking" means, this is a good song and a cool music vid. I wish I watched it on something other than my (non-flip) phone.
posted by cnanderson at 4:05 AM on October 23, 2015 [2 favorites]


Oh I do love her and this is a beautiful song, but I was a tad disappointed, I'll admit, to see her returning to Someone Like You territory in terms of subject-matter. Well at least she's just calling the guy a thousand times, as opposed to turning up out of the blue uninvited. Having said that, I like how conversational the lyrics are; it really does feel like you're just listening to her talk.
posted by Ziggy500 at 4:10 AM on October 23, 2015 [3 favorites]


Jinx MikeWarot. IMAX is cool, but I'm going to see my first 70mm projection ever this Christmas when they release Tarantino's H8ful 8. 70 mm is not new technology, but it'll be new to me.
posted by cnanderson at 4:12 AM on October 23, 2015


I just had the best dream - a brand new Adele song with a video starring Michael from The Wire and filled with beautiful winter coats!

(Seriously, so glad to see Adele back with new music. Please deliver us from #squadmadness and mediocre pop.)
posted by sallybrown at 4:30 AM on October 23, 2015 [3 favorites]


Remarkably pop country-sounding production. Which of course means 80s Rock production. Which is now retro.

Quite a voice, as ever, but what a meh song. She needs to move away from the overwrought ballad. I'd love to hear her do fresh stuff with more Muscle Shoals, Motown, or Philly Sound groove.
posted by spitbull at 4:40 AM on October 23, 2015 [13 favorites]


How long till someone makes a phone-call-style mashup of this with Lionel Richie?
posted by sallybrown at 5:04 AM on October 23, 2015 [6 favorites]


So much plus+one to all of the above commenting. Really exciting to see the range out of Wilds still there and more so now that he can be old enough to do romantic too.
posted by drowsy at 5:12 AM on October 23, 2015


Also of note: the video was directed by Québécois filmmaker Xavier Dolan.
posted by mr. manager at 5:54 AM on October 23, 2015 [5 favorites]


I think there is always room for a great torch singer. And Adele ranks up there with Sinatra, in my estimation. This, like her previous work, represents a world in which love is difficult and painful and sometimes fails, and we end up mulling over and regretting and being sure it represents a failing on our part.

This has always felt like a story adults tell each other, and after hearing so many love songs written by and for children, I'm glad to hear an adult break it down so forcefully.
posted by maxsparber at 6:07 AM on October 23, 2015 [8 favorites]


As a fan at first I was disappoint, but the song's got just enough understated, deceptive simplicity to put her back at the top where she left off. Time and memory/distance seem to always be the themes she loves to sing about, and her best songs have tiny touches that combine her fascination with time with musical gestures.

In this one, we've heard the same chord sequence circling broodily around for nearly a minute when at 2:07 she starts to expand the song's territory with the phrase 'such a difference' and sure enough, we get a different chord that we haven't heard before (heard in the next line on the word 'be-TWEEN'). Then there is also a fleetingly fast, shivery descending melisma over the word 'u-u-u-us' in the line 'between us' (2:13), which she starts off by singing in her main 'head' voice but moves just perceptibly into her deepest and most intimate breath/front of mouth voice, and the effect is pure essence of Adele. The song is airborne from then on.

Also just before the chorus, there's a pause that my ears can't parse (a bar of 6/8 followed by a bar and a half of 4/4 anyone?), preparing for the blockbuster which she has earned the right to blast out, as a release from the constriction of the verse and the tension of the pre-chorus.

Her instinct for dramatising the moments of peak tension in a song, with a talent so rich but unobtrusive, is what makes her the Queen.
posted by colie at 6:12 AM on October 23, 2015 [10 favorites]


first thought: Adello.

Heh.
posted by mullacc at 6:16 AM on October 23, 2015 [3 favorites]


So why did they film it in IMAX? Is it playing in theaters? Seems kind of wasteful for something 99% of us will watch on a phone.
posted by fungible at 6:20 AM on October 23, 2015 [2 favorites]


And Adele ranks up there with Sinatra, in my estimation.

Um, no. And it's not taking anything away from her to differ on that. I think even she'd laugh to hear herself compared to Sinatra.
posted by blucevalo at 6:32 AM on October 23, 2015 [1 favorite]


Um, yes.

I am a great fan of Sinatra, but his real contribution is his helping to define the great American songbook. He was a superlative singer -- as is Adele -- but his legacy is primarily that he was, in a relatively short series of albums, smartly collaborating with extraordinary contemporary arrangers -- as is Adele -- and able to select some of the best song written in the 20th century.

Adele doesn't have the canon of songs yet. But torch singing was primarily something women did, and Sinatra, without credit, lifted a lot from singers who were women. Adele is as strong a singer and interpreter as Sinatra was, and, more than that, returns torch singing back to the female voice, where it originated.
posted by maxsparber at 6:41 AM on October 23, 2015 [7 favorites]


Huh, I think this is the first time I've ever recognized something from my wardrobe on a pop singer. It's the boring plaid coat from the beginning, alas, and not the cool fur one people are talking about. Obviously it's not the actual coat, but you know what I mean. I bought it over 10 years ago and just gave it away to my sister-in-law because it didn't really fit anymore, so I can't even dust it off and pretend like I'm cool again. I wonder if this says more about me or Adele's costumer. Oh well, it's still a great coat.
posted by Diagonalize at 6:51 AM on October 23, 2015


I love the melody and the performance and I will be belting that chorus out right along with Adele as I drive down the highway. But as far as lyrics go, I do wish she'd get over her old boyfriend already. Geez.
posted by ThatCanadianGirl at 6:52 AM on October 23, 2015 [1 favorite]


Am I getting old (well yeah but is it that) or does this sound like every pop ballad ever just kind of averaged out?
posted by cotton dress sock at 7:07 AM on October 23, 2015 [5 favorites]


Like belting through 80% of it does showcase Adele's powerhouse lungs but it doesn't make it a better song. (I need a coffee naow sorry)
posted by cotton dress sock at 7:11 AM on October 23, 2015


I'm simultaneously relieved that the rumor that Diane Warren had cowritten a song with her is false, and disappointed that Max Martin collaborated on a song with her.
posted by pxe2000 at 7:17 AM on October 23, 2015


If I had a nickel for every time I saw a "need to fall in love and get my heart broken before the Adele album drops" joke on Twitter the past couple of days, I'd have like, 45 cents.
posted by kmz at 7:20 AM on October 23, 2015 [1 favorite]


I'm not sure how I feel about the song yet after one listen. She works that chorus hard and sounds amazing but I'm not so enamored of the verses. Further listening will be required. She looks absolutely gorgeous though.
posted by wabbittwax at 7:42 AM on October 23, 2015


On the topic of her career arc and the advice from me she never asked for... Like others above, I'd love to hear her do some Muscle Shoals soul style stuff but more than that I'd like to hear her veer off a little into Dusty Springfield territory. "Adele in Memphis" if you know what I mean. She would absolutely slay on "Son of a Preacher Man."
posted by wabbittwax at 7:47 AM on October 23, 2015 [4 favorites]


So why did they film it in IMAX? Is it playing in theaters? Seems kind of wasteful for something 99% of us will watch on a phone.

Shooting on a large format like IMAX will have implications for image quality other than apparent resolution (which can be a big one, on HD screens if not on your iPhone) where depth of field is concerned. Specifically, it's razor-thin. Look at the way the DP changes focus inside shots, and how the out-of-focus elements of the image move way out of focus instead of just rolling off gently into softness. There are ways to compensate for that, or you can just roll with it and take advantage of the unusual look.

And I just saw the new Joanna Newsom video in a movie theater the other night, so there are at least theoretically ways that a video like this this could be exploited in higher-than-HD resolutions.
posted by Mothlight at 8:03 AM on October 23, 2015 [2 favorites]


I loved how the drums were filtered the entire time, allowing the energy normally associated with bombastic percussion to be implied while her voice directed the arc of the song.
posted by grumpybear69 at 8:05 AM on October 23, 2015 [4 favorites]


Well I thought it was cool. It seemed kind of reverse Beauty and the Beast to me - Adelle in the huge fur coat, belting it out in the moody wilderness or in the dusty gothic bedchamber, while the guy is the perfect and wronged human.
posted by Think_Long at 8:21 AM on October 23, 2015 [4 favorites]


Max Martin: the most optimistic hope for her collaboration with him is something with a touch of out-of-character wit (as far as the performer is concerned) like 'We are never ever getting back together'.
posted by colie at 8:33 AM on October 23, 2015 [1 favorite]


The first word in the song, "Hello", sounded juuuust similar enough to Lionel Richie's "Hello" in that song that I was really expecting "is it me you're looking for?"
posted by numaner at 9:30 AM on October 23, 2015 [3 favorites]


This is brilliant.
posted by maudlin at 9:42 AM on October 23, 2015 [4 favorites]


The chorus chord progression and rhythm are like Heart's 'Alone'.
posted by colie at 10:57 AM on October 23, 2015 [1 favorite]


But as far as lyrics go, I do wish she'd get over her old boyfriend already. Geez.

What the fuck would anyone write popular about if people got over their old partners? Do you listen to the Beatles and yell "Just get over it, you maudlin mop-topped gits!"?
posted by howfar at 11:20 AM on October 23, 2015 [2 favorites]


The inevitable mash-up.
posted by mogget at 11:28 AM on October 23, 2015 [2 favorites]


Literally rip out your heart give it a stroke and put it back in.
posted by unliteral at 11:53 AM on October 23, 2015


So apparently during her four-year hiatus she found and slew the Yeti and turned him into a coat!
posted by mudpuppie at 1:34 PM on October 23, 2015


Also, I echo those above who'd like to hear more Memphis-y stuff from Adele. She'll get there. She'd be stupid not to ride her own zeitgeist right now, but I think she's talented and creative and confident enough to explore (and popularize!) other styles of music -- eventually. She's also wise enough not to change up her act just yet.
posted by mudpuppie at 1:37 PM on October 23, 2015


I know I'm not the only one who thought "NOT IN A DARK COAT" when she whipped those dusty sheets off the windows.
posted by janey47 at 3:11 PM on October 23, 2015 [2 favorites]


Hi. If you're estranged and separated from your loved one, don't watch this or listen to this song. Ever. Trust me.
posted by ob1quixote at 3:31 PM on October 23, 2015 [2 favorites]


I guess I that I just don't pay attention to lyrics in pop songs. I listened to it twice and couldn't have told you what it was about. Found the lyrics printed out here and it just looks like a generic post-breakup thing.
posted by octothorpe at 4:23 PM on October 23, 2015


Found the lyrics printed out here and it just looks like a generic post-breakup thing.

I like the lyric. In all fairness, it does tread some of the same ground as Someone Like You, but I think it's still fertile ground. Guilt, desire, self-loathing; the dark part of us that obsesses about loves we lost because we were thoughtless and selfish dickheads, and the awareness that we're not doing any better than that now. Jarvis Cocker, most notably, has produced plenty of songs in this vein, and while the lyrics here are not up to his standard, there are echoes of some of his palette.

Cocker and Adele could do some fantastic work together, come to think of it.
posted by howfar at 4:51 PM on October 23, 2015 [1 favorite]


Oh yay, I'm glad Michael is off the street and now just involved in interpersonal drama featuring cool abandoned estates and warm coats!

I have to admit I was hoping for more... from the mashup with Lionel Richie.
posted by TwoStride at 5:47 PM on October 23, 2015


The chorus chord progression and rhythm are like Heart's 'Alone'.
It's those four chords.
posted by dfan at 4:47 PM on October 24, 2015


The ground broke so hard I had to put my glasses on. And when she was almost blown into that pond, I knew it would be cold, like her cold, cold, heart. And the chorus went like up top, and I thought, did she take his heart, and his umbrella?
posted by Brocktoon at 7:28 PM on October 24, 2015


“The New Adele Song Will Have To Wait Till Sunday,” Allison P. Davis, New York Magazine The Cut, 23 October 2015
I hear that Adele dropped a new song, “Hello,” last night. I saw all the tweets when I woke up, and I confess: I was tempted. I hear she uses a flip phone in the video and that interests me greatly. I opened my eyes this lovely morning, and read several texts and Gchats — “Have you listened to the new Adele, ohmigod. Gutted,” and “Girl, listen to that new Adele, it will destroy your heart," and just “Adele, coffin emoji” — and then I decided to sit this one out.
posted by ob1quixote at 9:10 PM on October 24, 2015


It seemed kind of reverse Beauty and the Beast to me - Adelle in the huge fur coat, belting it out in the moody wilderness or in the dusty gothic bedchamber, while the guy is the perfect and wronged human.

Now that I've watched it again, I half-suspected that this is exactly what the (video) director or Adele wanted to convey. The way the boyfriend talked and acted on the camera really does seem like some kind of a reverse manix pixie.
posted by tirta-yana at 5:42 AM on October 25, 2015


It's those four chords

In fact it's those four chords arranged in what has actually been christened the 'Sensitive Female Chord Progression.'

I still love her.
posted by colie at 7:17 AM on October 25, 2015 [2 favorites]


all I kept seeing was flip phones and land lines and thinking 'this is high-tech?'

It is if Adele is actually a 3'7" tall IT guy from Vladivostok and some marvellous CGI was spun up.
posted by CynicalKnight at 9:48 PM on October 25, 2015


"Son of a Preacher Man."

Ha. Now I have to hope Adele gets around to the obvious, brilliant idea of a Bobbie Gentry tribute album because I would LOVE to hear her touch up "He Made A Woman Out of Me."
posted by spitbull at 4:39 PM on October 26, 2015


I enjoyed this remix.
posted by Ziggy500 at 3:00 PM on October 27, 2015




Via Kottke, Sir David Attenborough narrating "Hello"
posted by a halcyon day at 1:44 PM on November 4, 2015


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