19

19 is Adele’s debut album. Named for her age when she started writing and recording these songs (yes, 19), it was released on January 28, 2008, when the singer was nearing 20.

It’s arguably her most diverse album in her career. 19 certainly has the same (failed) romance aspect included heavily in 21 and also somewhat in 25, but musically, it draws from more diverse genres—sometimes taking a jazz-flavored route, and other times following more electronic influences—to make an album that is more experimental than her others.

In a 2008 interview with Blues & Soul, Adele discussed her inspiration for and feelings while writing the album:

It was simply that I got into a relationship that went very sour. And, if I’d been in the same frame of mind as I am when I’m talking to you now—i.e. sober!—I probably wouldn’t have written any of it! But yeah, as cheesy as it sounds, I did write to kinda cleanse myself and get it all out of my system really. You know, I hate—I’m actually offended by—literal easy lyrics that have no thought behind them and are purely written because they rhyme. So I do always want my lyrics to be mature and thoughtful. And, while I’ve personally now stopped listening to my album because I sing it every day, ultimately I do think it is sincere. Apart from Hometown Glory, Daydreamer, and My Same—which were all written earlier, when I was between 16 and 18—the whole album is all about one boy. So I was very sad when I wrote it. And I think that genuinely does come through in the music.