Adele In The Goldilocks Zone

Adele's music has the power to please. But we turn to neuroscientists in vain to understand why. When it comes to music, we like the familiar unfamiliar.

by Alva Noë

Gareth Cattermole/Getty Images Adele

Pop singer Adele won six Grammy Awards last week and since then has sold close to 750,000 copies of her album 21. People are very excited about this music and I can appreciate why. She nails it like a gymnast on a landing. She gives us what we want to hear. Not too hot. Not too cold. Just right. Music is a lot like clothing. We like our jeans pre-worn. When it comes to music, we like the familiar unfamiliar. That is, we like things we've never heard before that sound like things we have heard before. If the music is too familiar, it's dull. But if it is genuinely new, if it really is novel, then it is obnoxious. We are attracted to music in the Goldilocks Zone, as it has been called. And it is this that explains a familiar but nonetheless ...