After years of living away from her fame, Adele has resurfaced with her new album, 30. It was released on November 19, 2021, and was very much awaited by her fans. This is her fourth studio album after 19, 21, 25, and she continues on the tradition of naming her albums corresponding with her age.
30 consists of twelve beautifully constructed songs that show off her emotions through this time.
The album was said to be based on her divorce from Simon Konecki, but she also tells British Vogue in their October 7 edition, “I feel like this album is self-destruction, then self-reflection, and then sort of self-redemption.”
When comparing 30 to her past albums, Adele’s voice and her reasons behind releasing this is more for herself rather than for her career. She focuses more on expressing her emotions in a way that she wants rather than putting the music out just for the sake of her career. Her other albums did showcase what she was going through, but at the same time, those seemed to be released to build up her music.
The lead single of her album “Easy On Me,” was released on October 15, 2021, teasing the release of her much-awaited album. This grounding piano ballad is a staple to any Adele album and was a wonderful way to come back to the music industry after six years. Her music has a lot of complexity to it, yet is still graceful and moving.
She discusses motherhood and the pressure of fame in the album with small pieces of audio in her songs. Notes of conversations between her and her son about the split are sprinkled through the song, “My Little Love.” A voicemail that she had sent to her friend when on the verge of a breakdown is also included in this song, only adding more depth to the picture she is trying to portray.
It says, “I’m having a bad day, I’m having a very anxious day… I feel a bit frightened that I might feel like this at all.”
She incorporates a mix of the lively, enthusiastic style from her album, 19, and her traditional ballads. There are also elements pulled in from jazz, gospel music, and hip-hop along with her usual piano backings.
“Oh My God” the fifth song in the album, showcases happiness and has an upbeat tempo which has to be a favorite of mine. The song adds a pleasant touch to the overall tone of the album and has made its way onto a lot of people’s favorites. A vast contrast to “Can I Get It,” another amazing song, that is a sudden appearance of pop and country music which balances out the sadness from some of her other songs.
Adele ends the album with “Love Is A Game” in which she presents a recap of the whole album in six minutes. Listeners are taken through a journey of her figuring out her emotions and coming to a healthy conclusion; she is capable of love. The more upbeat tune to this piece offers the perfect closing to the album for anyone who listens.
The background music in this album in itself is a masterpiece. Adele has her usual piano backings, but when those are combined with the other instruments, the music adds to her vocals and gives the piece a more genuine feeling.
Her lyrics in this album feel more open and less metaphorical. They still have a connotative meaning to them, but the deepness of what she is trying to say is much more prominent compared to some of her past albums. I feel that it leaves the listener with more freedom to make those lyrics into something they can relate to.
The heavenly vocals and rawness of the album add a sense of blissfulness when listening to it and make the experience more enjoyable. She captures every aspect of what she might be feeling and executes it flawlessly.
30 is currently at number one on the Billboard 200 albums chart and is set to be the biggest selling album of the year. “Easy On Me” is currently also number 1 on Billboard’s Hot 100 and Billboard’s Global 200 and has been on both for 5 weeks now. Adele for 13 weeks has been the number one artist on Billboard’s Artist 100. Her accomplishments clearly show the love her album has gotten.
Adele’s albums always stand the test of time and I am confident that this album will too. 30 is available to listen to on all streaming platforms and I highly encourage you to give it a listen.
Sources Used:
https://www.vogue.co.uk/arts-and-lifestyle/article/adele-british-vogue-interview
https://www.billboard.com/charts/
