On Friday, November 19, the music industry was taken by storm with English singer-songwriter Adele’s fourth studio album simply titled “30”, marking her return after a nearly six-year hiatus. While the lead single “Easy On Me” gave us a taste of the upcoming project, it simply acted as an illusion to mask the remainder of the album which saw Adele exploring different parts of her vocal range as well as different genres. As the album progresses we see Adele grappling with the reality and difficulties of her divorce as well as the impact it may have had on her son.
The opening track titled “Strangers By Nature” is a theatrical song inspired by the movie “Death Becomes Her” and the opening line “I’ll be taking flowers to the cemetery of my heart” alludes to her recent heartbreak as well as past relationships which didn’t last. This was followed by the familiar chords of “Easy On Me” and as Adele belts “go easy on me”, her pain is palpable as well the forgiveness which she so longs for from both her son, as well as her ex-husband.
The R&B track “My Little Love” follows, with its dramatic strings and the gentle humming of background vocalists providing Adele with the perfect stage to tell her story throughout which are snippets of conversations she has with her son. Adele admits that “mama’s got a lot to learn” and she’s simply “holding on”. This six-minute extravaganza is one of five more to follow but for now the upbeat “Cry Your Heart Out” begins to echo. The Goldfrapp-inspired track, despite the catchy tone, carries some of Adele’s most heartfelt lyrics such as “When I walk in a room, I'm invisible I feel like a ghost”.
We then see Adele exploring pop as well as country elements with the songs “Oh My God” and “Can I Get It” providing listeners with a short break from the rather heavier sounds on the album. Although the whistling in the hook of “Can I Get It” seems out of place for the story the album is setting out to create, the verses are well delivered. On the other hand “OMG” is pure pop perfection, with its catchy hooks and heart-thumping beats.
The seventh track, “I Drink Wine” which is set to be the next single from the album is an amalgamation of Elton John’s style of singing with undertones of gospel vocals. “Why am I seeking approval / From people I don't even know?”. It talks about the obsession with pleasing others and forgetting about what we want for ourselves. Before the third leg of the album begins, “I Drink Wine” flows into the heavily jazz-inspired track “All Night Parking”, marking Adele’s first collaboration with the late piano legend, Erroll Garner. Lyrically the song speaks about a long-distance relationship that was doomed from the beginning.
The song “Woman Like Me” shows Adele taking a more bitter stance when a relationship ends. She berates her partner for his “complacency” and calls him “lazy” for not going the extra mile and providing her with “consistency” which is “key / To ever keep, to ever keep a woman like me”.
“Hold On” is a song filled with themes of motivation and strength and the soft-echoing lines “Love will soon come” fill the beginning of the song before it sees Adele providing a vocal crescendo as she sings the immortal words “Let time be patient” before providing a vocal and emotional climax as she belts her heart out as she sings “Just Hold On”. “To Be Loved” can be perceived as a typical Adele song with its simple piano notes, but with one of the most powerful voices in this generation, she doesn’t need much else as she croons about wanting “to be loved and love at the highest count”. This track addresses the lengths to which she will go for love “Let it be known that I cried for you / Even started lying to you”. The final song of the album once again utilizes the cinematic experience Adele provided in the opening track SBN as she talks about love being a game “for fools to play / And I ain’t fooling”. It acts as the resolution to the story she has weaved with the eleven songs leading up to this. And as the song fades towards the end Adele sings “I’d do it all again” reminiscing her 2015 song “All I Ask” where she sings “what if I never love again?”.
In conclusion “30” marks Adele’s best album both lyrically and sonically with its consistency in terms of themes as well as lyrical content. Each song, although a different genre each, flows seamlessly into each other and provides listeners with a variety of songs they can claim to be their favorites. Although the production of the album did at times overpower Adele’s stellar vocal performance it did not take away from the essence of what she was trying to convey. Adele’s brave expression of herself in such a vulnerable manner through such “Non-Adele” sounds is commendable.
Final Score - 9/10