I don’t know if it is just me, but I grew up religiously listening to Adele. I can easily recite every song from her albums 19 and 21. When she announced her release of “30,” I had to mentally prepare for this new chapter of heartbreak. Through Adele, I have felt grievance, heartache, love, lust, and now divorce! Her album release was November 19, 2021 and you best believe I stayed up until it dropped to listen to every song.
I firmly believe that this was her most emotionally raw album. I truly felt her lyrics without ever experiencing a situation like marriage and divorce. The grasping of loneliness and pain coming from a perspective of focusing on herself for once. For the most part, this album is filled with her honest depiction of her love life. An album that is so intimate. While she does include a few cheery songs that I took as her way of telling listeners she is rebounding from this all, the album primarily consists of mournful gut wrenching lyric filled tunes.
The third track on the album titled, “My Little Love,” is a confessional between her and her child that includes their candid voice recorded conversations. While I never experienced this sort of heartache, I have been on the side of her child. Hearing the parent’s emotional struggle and their utter loneliness as a child.
The eleventh track, “To Be Loved”, is quite possibly the saddest song I have ever heard. Her storytelling of falling out of love and walking away for herself. When she said “Keep my heart safe till the time feels right”, this is a set of lyrics I think many people can relate to. It was the breaking point for her in a relationship. She had to take that stance and leave it for her. Such a candid song that can easily be the cause of many tears. Many, many, many tears.
Another few tracks I have been listening to non-stop are “Oh My God” and “Can I Get It.” These songs are more shifting the perspective to seeking self-love. And the beat depicts that. It is almost a groovy type of beat where you can easily dance around your room to. I feel like the ultimate boss every time I hear Adele sing, “I don’t have to explain myself to you. I am a grown woman and I do what I want to do” in “Oh My God.”
Overall, this album is one of Adele’s best works. Her ability to be honest in writing and her passion as a professional shows that she is easily one of the greatest singers this generation has.
Shoutout to all the relationship counselors after this album skyrockets!