The renowned singer-songwriter Adele Laurie Blue Adkins has returned and released her latest album, “30,” after a six-year hiatus. Adele is a British songwriter who has been singing since just four years old. Adele’s music career slowly started to take off in her early teens. Her first hit song was “Chasing Pavements,” which was part of her album “19.” However, this was only the beginning. Adele has won countless awards for her music, including 15 Grammy’s, that has brought fans to tears time and time again. Adele is undoubtedly one of the greatest musicians of our generation and has amassed well over 120 million record sales in her lifetime.
The album was released following a series of her previous albums “19,” “21,” and “25.” “30” will be Adele’s fourth album in the series incorporating elements of pop, soul and jazz. The numbers in Adele’s album reflects her age at the time of her writing the songs for each album, with the songs in “30” being her latest. Adele’s hardships in life inspired a great deal of her music, including many songs in this album. Adele has a remarkable talent for transforming hardship and heartbreak into incredibly touching pieces of music. Adele expressed that the album “was written in the most turbulent period of my life” as she has filed for a divorce from her husband of two years. Adele shared “30” as an attempt to explain her divorce from her husband Simon Konecki to her nine-year old son. She referred to “30” as her most personal and emotional album, an unbelievable feat considering her second album touched the hearts of many. Within the first three days of release Adele sold well over half a million copies and was crowned best-selling album of the year.
The album begins with “Strangers by Nature,” which sets the general mood beautifully for the other songs to come. Adele seems to test the waters with a different style compared to her previous records. The song opens with a piano playing a twinkling disney like melody which is then accompanied by Adele’s angelic voice and plaintive lyrics. The whole song seems to be her mourning her previous relationships as highlighted by the lyrics, “I’ll be taking flowers to the cemetery of my heart.”
“Easy on Me” offers a similar sound to all of her previous works, featuring a melodic piano while being accompanied by Adele’s soaring vocals. The song presents very deep and meaningful vocals and lyrics, “I know there is hope in these waters, But I can’t bring myself to swim” gives the song a feeling of hopefulness while also adventuring through hardships that she had to face.
“My Little Love” also offers a similar sound to most of her previous work. However, it is set apart in the aspect that it depicts a few things that happened with Adele and her son after divorcing her husband. It portrays Adele’s grating journey as their marriage was coming to a close.
“Cry Your Heart Out” as well as “Oh My God” and “Can I Get It” offsets the album slightly by having a more light-hearted pop music aspect to it based on the melody and her choice in vocals. Adele’s typical style picks back up on the fifth song “I Drink Wine,” where she returns to a more slow and emotional flow.
Listening through this album it is apparent that there is a greater meaning behind each song and their lyrics. The listener can hear the raw emotion in her voice, as she sings her message to her son.
