For the first time in five years Adele has released a new album, detailing her 2019 divorce from her husband, Simon Konecki. The album was highly anticipated, with people curious as to what her style would be and whether Adele’s music would still be the huge commercial success it had been in 2015, being released into a market that is much more concentrated on streaming. The concerns over whether Adele’s new music would become a commercial success have quickly dissipated, with ‘Easy on Me’ breaking the record for the highest first-week single sales in four years and 30 becoming the biggest selling album in the USA in 2021 after just three days.
With the exception of ‘Easy on Me’, the sound on the album does diverge slightly from the lovelorn and melancholic rhythm that Adele has become synonymous with. The album explores the ballad and soul genre, pushing the boundaries of what people expect of her music. It would be understandable for Adele to not alter the ingredients of her success, but she has been brave enough to produce an album which explores a different side to her sonic influences.
The other component that makes this album an impressive piece of art is the lyrics, which continue her theme of heartache, but this time the subject matter is more substantial and relatable to people. Adele engages with a polarising topic – divorce and the break up of a family – in a compelling and masterful manner. In weeks preceding the release of 30, Adele explained that she produced this album so her son would understand why she broke up the family, while she has since stated that she almost did not release the album at all. There is an attempt to explain and justify her decision to initiate the divorce, with Adele asserting that she needed to put her well-being first, while on ‘I Drink Wine’ she contends that her marriage did not work because it coincided with a difficult time in her life. Regardless of whether you agree with divorce, it is compelling to listen to her conflicting emotions and rationale for why the marriage did not work, especially when considering that some people would have a negative reaction to her decision and her attempt to justify breaking up her family.
To digress, the album is also noteworthy because of the way in which Spotify has finally agreed to remove the shuffle mode as the default means for which people can stream albums on their platform. This has been an ongoing issue, with Lady Gaga encouraging her fans to listen to her album Chromatica from start to finish. Adele responded to the news by tweeting that “We don’t create albums with so much care and thought into our track listing for no reason… our art tells a story and our stories should be listened to as we intended. Thank you Spotify for listening.”
This again raises the eternal question about what is the correct way to listen to an album, whether an album is a coherent piece of art or a collection of disparate songs. It also is another example of the perpetual tension that exists between artists and the new media, who argue they are more in tune with the ways customers are now consuming products.
Overall, the album is enjoyable to listen to and the lyrics are thought provoking, with it warranting the level of commercial success it has received. The lyrics will resonate with a great deal of people and they address a topic that is much more profound than past Adele albums; while sonically the album does go places you would not expect without completely abandoning the core ingredients of Adele’s music. It is a really enjoyable listen and is another sign that Adele will not lose her insurmountable place in the music industry any time soon.
Rating: 3/5
