"Cold Shoulder" is a song by the British singer-songwriter

Adele Adele Laurie Blue Adkins (, ; born 5 May 1988), professionally known by the mononym Adele, is an English singer and songwriter. After graduating in arts from the BRIT School in 2006, Adele signed a reco ...

, released from her first album '' 19''. It was released digitally in

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

on 20 April 2008 and in the UK on 21 April 2008. "Cold Shoulder" is the only song on the album to be produced by

Mark Ronson Mark Daniel Ronson (born 4 September 1975) is a British-American DJ, songwriter, record producer, and record executive. He is best known for his collaborations with artists such as Duran Duran, Amy Winehouse, Adele, Lady Gaga, Lily Allen, Robbi ...

. The former

Jamiroquai Jamiroquai () are an English funk and acid jazz band from London. Formed in 1992, they are fronted by vocalist Jay Kay, and were prominent in the London-based funk and acid jazz movement of the 1990s. They built on their acid jazz sound in the ...

bass guitarist

Stuart Zender Stuart Patrick Jude Zender (born 18 March 1974) is an English bassist. He is best known as a former member of the band Jamiroquai. Biography Early life Zender was born in Sheffield, England. He comes from a family with a musical background: ...

plays bass guitar on the song and is also part of Ronson's touring band. Adele performed the song on ''Friday Night with Jools Holland'' on 8 February 2008 and on ''

Saturday Night Live ''Saturday Night Live'' (often abbreviated to ''SNL'') is an American late-night live television sketch comedy and variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC and Peacock. Michaels currently serves a ...

'' during the 18 October 2008 show. A remix by

Basement Jaxx Basement Jaxx are an English electronic music duo consisting of Felix Buxton and Simon Ratcliffe. The pair got their name from the regular club night they held in Brixton, London, UK. They first rose to popularity in the underground house scene ...

also received airplay and is digitally available.

Critical reception

The song was met with positive reviews from critics, with most praising Adele's vocals and the song's lyrics. However,

Clash Magazine ''Clash'' is a music and fashion magazine and website based in the United Kingdom. It is published four times a year by Music Republic Ltd, whose predecessor Clash Music Ltd went into liquidation. The magazine won the Best New Magazine award in ...

described the song and Ronson's production as having "high concept" and "slick production" that "seems as soulless as a Michael Bay film".

Music video

The music video for "Cold Shoulder" was shot in February 2008 in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

. It had airplay on UK music channels and shows Adele singing in a darkened room among melting ice statues, each with looks of despair. The music video ends with many of the statues melted and the final shots of Adele interfade into those of the statues. As of October 2021, the music video has received over 34 million views on

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Track listings

UK – CD and 7-inch vinyl # "Cold Shoulder" 3:15 # "Now and Then" 3:24 iTunes EP
''Cold Shoulder – EP'' # "Cold Shoulder" # "Cold Shoulder" # "Cold Shoulder" # "Cold Shoulder" # "Cold Shoulder" # "Cold Shoulder"

Credits and personnel

Vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...

–

Songwriting A songwriter is a musician who professionally composes musical compositions or writes lyrics for songs, or both. The writer of the music for a song can be called a composer, although this term tends to be used mainly in the classical music gen ...

– Adele Adkins,

Sacha Skarbek Sacha Skarbek is a British songwriter and producer. He is best known for co-writing James Blunt's hit singles "You're Beautiful" and "Goodbye My Lover" as well as Miley Cyrus' hit song "Wrecking Ball". Skarbek has worked with artists such as A ...

* Production, drums, guitar, programming, keyboards -

* Keyboards - Jason Silver * Guitar - Michael Tighe, Matt Allchin * Bass guitar -

* Percussion - Pete Biggins * Glockenspiel - Sam Koppelman * String arrangements - Chris Elliott

Release history

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

2008 singles 2008 songs Adele songs Song recordings produced by Mark Ronson Songs written by Adele Songs written by Sacha Skarbek Trip hop songs XL Recordings singles {{2000s-single-stub