Now, while it's possible that he simply became a better singer between 2007 and 2015, subtler auto-tuning of the type conventionally used in pop production generally just makes the voice sound cleaner, thicker, more polished. Note that his style has also changed to favor staccato phrasing so as to limit stairstepping artifacts.
> makes the voice sound cleaner, thicker, more polished
I think here you may be confusing Auto-tune with "modern" voice processing, which while happened together are quite different. Modern pop singers are overdubbed ridiculously with added distorsion, resulting in a "massive" (and slightly "robotic") lead voice.
I think here you may be confusing Auto-tune with "modern" voice processing, which while happened together are quite different. Modern pop singers are overdubbed ridiculously with added distorsion, resulting in a "massive" (and slightly "robotic") lead voice.
Edit: You can clearly hear this "saturation" in the song Hello by Adele (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YQHsXMglC9A), especially in the chorus. Compare with her natural voice: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-yL7VP4-kP4