1st March 2012

Adele’s second full-length album, “21”, has won the second IMPALA European Independent Album of the Year Award from a shortlist of 23 albums from across Europe, covering genres such as synth-pop (Rubik), dubstep (ModeSelektor and SBTRKT), electro (Little Dragon and M83), metal (Arrayan Path), punk rock (Hladno Pivo, Iceage, The Glockenwise) and post-rock (Sigur Ros)…

“21” is the London singer songwriter’s second album on UK label XL Recordings, who released the record in Europe on 24th January 2011.

Thanks to its understated production and Adele’s vocal performance, 21 turned into a massive success worldwide, topping the album charts in more than 26 countries. Its three singles, “Rolling In The Deep”, “Someone Like You” and “Set Fire To The rain” became number-one hits all over the world. With sales of 17 million copies as of January 2012, “21” was the best-selling musical release of 2011, and helped to dynamise sales of the European music industry.

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Helen Smith, Executive Chair of IMPALA, commented: “The ability of this exceptional album to touch so many people all over the world, is such an achievement for a European artist and makes “21” the well-deserved winner for this year’s award, whilst the complete list of 23 nominees demonstrate once again the diversity and vitality of the independent sector all over Europe”.

More about Adele

London-based Adele (full name Adele Laurie Blue Adkins) was offered a recording contractfrom XL Recordings after a friend posted her demo on MySpace in 2006. Her debut album, “19”, was released in 2008, to much commercial and critical success in the UK. She became the first recipient of the BRIT award Critics’ Choice and was named the number-one predicted breakthrough act of 2008.

More about the album – “21”

Adele released her second studio album in early 2011. The album was inspired by Adele’s personal experiences in love. Its sound has been described as classic and contemporary roots and country music. The album was very well received and surpassed the success of her debut, reaching 17 million copies sold in February 2012.

With “21”, Adele has won a record six Grammy Awards in 2012 (including Album of the Year). The album has also received numerous other awards, including twoBrit awards and three American Music Awards.

This phenomenal success has granted Adele numerous mentions in the Guinness Book of Records, including longest running number one album by a female solo artist on the UK Albums Chart and longest running number one album by a female in Billboard history. 
One year after its release, “21” has simply turned into a worldwide phenomenon, gaining Adele millions of music fans all over the planet.

More information on Adele: www.adele.tv

More information on XL Recordings: www.xlrecordings.com

More about IMPALA’s Independent Album of the Year Award

The “European Independent Album of The Year” award was launched last year, together with the annual “Outstanding Contribution to European Music” award, to mark the 10th anniversary of IMPALA. The European Independent Album of the Year Award showcases the breadth and diversity of independent talent across Europe. The winner is selected on the basis of completely open criteria from a shortlist compiling national and non-national album nominations from territories across Europe put forward for their musical, artistic or other exceptional quality. Nominated albums were required to have been released in 2011 (January – December), on a European independent label. A jury of IMPALA board members choose the winner.

The Spotify playlist of nominated albums is available at: http://spoti.fi/wdSzbW

About IMPALA

IMPALA was established in April 2000 to represent independent music companies. 99% of Europe’s music companies are SMEs. Known as the “independents”, they are world leaders in terms of innovation and discovering new music and artists – theyproduce more than 80% of all new releases. SME’s also produce 80% of Europe’s jobs. IMPALA has its own award schemes to help promote cultural diversity and new talent and highlight the artistic contribution of independent music. IMPALA award winning artists include Efterklang, Adele, Manu Chao, Radiohead, Agnes Obel, Caro Emerald and Sigur Ros.