Adele cries to her music, too

LONDON — “I’m not going to cry,” Adele said.

She was practicing with her band at Music Bank rehearsal studios, an unglamorous warehouse space in South London, and had just finished When We Were Young, one of the torchiest ballads on her new album, 25. It’s a song about running into an old flame that confesses, “I still care” and then, tentatively, asks, “Do you still care?”

Adele can get caught up in her own songs, and she wouldn’t want to change that. “In order for me to feel confident with one of my songs, it has to really move me,” she said. “That’s how I know that I’ve written a good song for myself — it’s when I start crying. It’s when I just break out in (expletive) tears in the vocal booth or in the studio, and I’ll need a moment to myself.”

That heart-on-sleeve emotion, conveyed by a gorgeous voice, has made Adele, now 27, one of the most universally beloved singers and songwriters of the 21st century. Adele, whose last name is Adkins, won the Grammy as Best New Artist with her 2008 debut album, 19.

She multiplied her audience with 21, her 2011 album full of break-up songs — angry, regretful, lonely, righteous — that used modern production touches around vocals filled with old-fashioned soul. It has sold 30 million albums worldwide, 11 million in the US.

Beyond the power of Adele’s voice and the craftsmanship of the music, 21 communicated a palpable sincerity and urgency.

“She’s got this incredible intuition about what’s right and what’s real and what suits her,” said Paul Epworth, who wrote and produced songs with Adele on both 21 and the new album. “She’s the sharpest, most instinctive artist I’ve ever worked with. She’s pure gut, pure intuition.”