Editor’s letter: winter 2021

Taken from the new print issue of THE FACE. Get your copy here.

When Adele shared in October a brief Instagram snippet of what would turn out to be Easy On Me, the lead single from her new album 30, it felt, in many ways, like a moment of international catharsis.

Its chorus of ​“Go easy on me, baby” really did sum up how many of us felt as we began to emerge from the trauma of pandemic: a little changed, a little tired, a little rough around the edges. Because that’s the power of Adele, isn’t it? Someone who manages to articulate feelings of universality despite possessing a voice that few could even dream of emulating. Simultaneously above and below. Removed yet approachable.

You’ll see the same openness in the way she approached her cover interview for us, with Queenie author Candice Carty-Williams – a conversation we made a decision to run at great length due to the genuine warmth and connection between these two proud South Londoners. We’re very thankful to both of them for being so open, frank and generous with their time.

I think we all probably have an Adele ​“moment”. One that connects with some higher emotional vibrations running through us. Mine, like many others, was her performance of Someone Like You at the Brit Awards in 2011, one I watched at home in Morecambe, on the settee with my mum. Curtains drawn, table lamp on.

There’ll be many more moments like that, with this new album and with every Adele album after that. But for now we hope the vibrations reach you, in some small way, from these pages.

Until next time: go easy on yourselves.

Matthew Whitehouse, Editor

London, November 2021