Adele Slows Down to Avoid 'Rubbish' Sophomore Slump

By Dan Reilly Posted Nov 30th 2010 03:44PM

With the release of soulful stomper 'Rolling in the Deep,' Adele has shown that she won't be suffering from the dreaded sophomore slump on her upcoming, Rick Rubin-produced album, '21.' Rather than rush out a follow-up to her 2008 debut '19,' the Grammy winner decided to take her time and not rush back into the studio.

"From day one, me and my manager have always thought you're only as good as your next record," the British singer tells PopEater. "If I rushed it, I know my record would be rubbish. It would have one song on it and then no one would listen to the album. I don't want to sell singles."

With that in mind, the 22-year-old set about writing a complete record that deals with the fallout from a breakup in the years following her success. "I want people to get involved in the story of the record rather then having one massive pop song," she says. "I know it works for other people but it's not for me. I'd hate to release a rubbish record after winning Best New Artist. I needed a bit of a break to recoup, because winning a Grammy and doing well anywhere just blew my mind. I was very confused for quite a long time. I don't think I'll ever, ever rush a record. If I didn't like it, it'd be awful."

In addition to that maturity, Adele has also learned to avoid ending up in the UK tabloids. "Before, the tabloids weren't really bothering me. I was provoking it because I was going to the clubs [the press] would be at," she says. "I can't really moan about it the next morning when there's a picture of you looking awful falling out of a club. There's nothing interesting about me going to the movie theater with someone that isn't famous. You can completely control it and I do not care what anyone else says. Don't be an addict, don't be a crackhead, don't be a whore, basically."

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