Adele’s long-awaited album ’30’ (more popularly known as the ‘divorce album’ releases at midnight and I must admit I am not emotionally prepared.
Divorce sucks. Millions of songs, movies, and one perfect Twitter thread can tell you exactly why. That specific brand of grief and finality can also bring liberation to self, both physically and spiritually, and a newfound understanding of how you want to live out the rest of your days on earth.
Early last month, the ordinarily social-media-shy Adele went on Instagram Live for the first time, gamely playing the Luddite, cheerfully bumbling through an emotionally warm but technologically glitchy Q&A with her fans. Easily distracted and a bit frazzled, with her new puppies pattering in the background, she answered innocent questions like her preferred cereal flavor, her favorite Amy Winehouse song, etc. But when asked by one follower what inspired her new album, the first in six years—Adele gave the most direct answer possible. “Divorce, babe,” she said. “Divorce.”
I’ve always wondered how hard it must be for a singer to perform the songs they wrote about lost love, a broken relationship, a disillusion so great it changes you forever; how they take that hurt and create something beautiful, emotionally provoking and non-yarn-based out of it.
“Easy On Me,” the first taste of the album, picks up where “25” left off. It’s a brand new song that already feels deeply familiar: a spare piano ballad with a soaring chorus that finds Adele looking achingly back on the past as she pleads for mercy. “It was the first song I wrote for the album and then I didn’t write anything else for six months after because I was like, ‘OK, well, I’ve said it all.'”
But like her previous work, her new music isn’t as much about the breakup as one might expect: “I assumed it would be about my divorce, but it’s kind of not.”
Adele’s appeal is so enduring, in part because she has resisted every force of modern pop and modern pop stardom. She generally keeps out of the public eye and does little to stoke tabloid interest in her life. Her regard for tradition is so extreme that it can almost feel like a form of defiance. In the six years since she released “25,” the pop landscape has transformed dramatically, fractured into a million micro-trends, and taken on an expansive global scope.
There has been a lot of discussion on the experimentation and inspirations, such as the “Barry Manilow trick” and Bernie Taupin flair in the new album. People are allured by how almost absurd the names of most songs are. I personally cannot wait to see this new side to Adele.
Words by Rhea Gupta.
Graphic by Fai McCurdy.