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Adele releases 30: Reviews, reactions and revelations from the singer’s new album

‘Right then, I’m ready,’ singer says on the opening track

Roisin O'Connor
Friday 19 November 2021 08:29 EST
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Adele: One Night Only with Oprah Winfrey trailer

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Adele has released her longawaited, eagerly anticipated album 30.

Fans all around the world are reacting to the British artist’s fourth record, which includes her hit single “Easy on Me”.

Reviews for the album went live earlier this week, with critics praising the “immediacy” to her lyrics, along with her vocal prowess.

“Earlier songs spoke in platitudes and broad strokes,” The Independent’s Annabel Nugent observed.

“They projected human emotions onto the natural world – a shallow valley, a shelter in the rain, the river running nearby where she grew up. But the singer of 30 is more literal. Adele unmediated. Adele unfiltered. Adele opening her Notes app at 3am mid-anxiety attack and jotting down whatever comes to mind.”

In a recent interview, Adele responded to fans who said the new music was “too similar” to her previous work, questioning: “Why would I shake up my sound?”

Read more:

The liveblog is now closed

Roisin O'Connor19 November 2021 09:42

Adele’s father heard her music for the first time in years after reconciliation

Adele opened up about her relationship with her father during an interview with Oprah Winfrey.

During the conversation, which aired on Sunday (14 November) on CBS in the US, Adele said her father, Mark Evans, didn’t listen to her music for years.

The only song he had listened to, she said, was her 2007 single “Hometown Glory”.

“He was like, it’s too painful. He would switch it off and he never ever played any of my other music,” Adele told Winfrey.

The situation changed shortly before Evans’s death of bowel cancer in May this year.

In April, Adele and her father were able to have a conversation she says brought her much-needed closure. During the exchange, Adele played him her forthcoming album, 30, on Zoom.

“I felt that huge gaping hole filled,” Adele told Winfrey of the conversation she had with her father. “We forgave each other. ... We found our peace together, and then I played the album to him on Zoom.”

Adele told Rolling Stone in an interview published on 11 November that her father was the first person to hear her new songs.

Roisin O'Connor19 November 2021 08:54

Adele voicenotes reveal emotional discussions of divorce with her son, Angelo

Adele has released her new album, 30, and fans are already unpacking the lyrics and meanings behind each track.

The British artist, 33, has previously explained that the record was written as an attempt to explain her divorce to her nine-year-old son, Angelo.

Following her separation from ex-husband Simon Konecki, Angelo’s father, Adele began recording conversations with Angelo at the suggestion of her therapist.

“Mummy’s been having a lot of big feelings recently,” she tells Angelo, on “My Little Love”. “And I feel like I don’t really know what I’m doing.”

Read the full story here.

Roisin O'Connor19 November 2021 08:41

“For a singer who has built a career from the ashes of emotional bedlam, the opening of 30 is surprising. A twinkly orchestra invites the listener into some misty, enchanted glade. It’s muffled but unmistakable, like hearing the opening credits of an old-timey Disney movie playing in the next room.

“The song – a composition inspired by Judy Garland – follows suit. Next, though, is “Easy On Me” and any notion that 30 will be a happy jaunt down a yellow brick road is quickly dispelled. A tornado of self-revelation instead awaits.”

Read Annabel Nugent’s full review of 30 by Adele here.

Roisin O'Connor19 November 2021 08:17

How many of you are planning on tuning into ‘An Audience With Adele’ this weekend?

An Audience With Adele trailer
Roisin O'Connor19 November 2021 08:04

Adele has finally explained the story behind a picture of her speaking angrily on the phone that went viral in February last year.

The singer, who has just released her new album 30, was seen having what looked like an intense conversation on the phone, stepping out of a car at Heathrow Airport in London.

She was dressed all in black – a Nike hoodie, trackies, trainers and Moncler puffer jacket – and had perfectly manicured fingernails. Pictures of the moment went viral, with many on social media speculating over what she was so upset about.

Now, in a new interview with The Face, Adele has explained what was happening.

“I was f***ing livid when I got off that plane, f***ing hell!,” she said. “[The phone call] was with one of my friends. I wasn’t actually shouting at someone, I was telling the story of something that had happened to my best friend, Laura.”

Read the full story here.

Roisin O'Connor19 November 2021 07:52

Billboard ranks every song on 30 by Adele

Billboard has already released its ranking of the songs on Adele’s new album – what do you think?

#1 To Be Loved #2 Can I Get It #3 I Drink Wine #4 Love Is A Game #5 Oh My God #6 Easy On Me #7 Cry Your Heart Out #8 All Night Parking #9 Hold On #10 Woman Like Me #11 My Little Love #12 Strangers By Nature

Roisin O'Connor19 November 2021 07:31

Fans pick their favourite songs on Adele’s new album 30

What’s your favourite song on the album so far? I’m leaning towards “Oh My God” and “All Night Parking”.

Roisin O'Connor19 November 2021 07:17

Adele ‘hurt’ that people felt ‘let down’ by weight loss

Adele has said she is “concerned” by how people reacted to her weight loss.

The British artist’s noticeable change in image since her last major public appearances in 2017 was widely discussed on social media and by the press.

In her interview with Oprah Winfrey, Adele revealed she initially began exercising more because it helped her manage her issues with anxiety, and that she didn’t set out to lose weight.

In a new interview withThe Face, she said it made her “sad” that people “expected that much” from her.

“I’m concerned that so many people were so hurt by it,” she said. “That’s a real thing. But I never gave myself that role or job. It’s not my responsibility. I’ve never set my validations on anyone else, I would never.

Read more below:

Adele ‘hurt’ that people felt ‘let down’ by weight loss

British singer’s physical appearance has been subjected to relentless scrutiny over the years

Roisin O'Connor19 November 2021 07:12

How fans are reacting to Adele’s new album, 30

Adele has finally released her new album 30 , and fans are celebrating with a bottle of wine and a good cry.

The album comes six years after the 33-year-old singer’s last album 25. Critics are calling the record a “gripping act of big budget vulnerability.”

In her four-star review for The Independent , critic Annabel Nugent wrote: “Lyrically, 30 is candid. Adele has always been forthright – every bad feeling you’ve felt, she has confessed to feeling too – but there is a new immediacy here.”

“Earlier songs spoke in platitudes and broad strokes. They projected human emotions onto the natural world – a shallow valley, a shelter in the rain, the river running nearby where she grew up.

“But the singer of 30 is more literal. Adele unmediated. Adele unfiltered. Adele opening her Notes app at 3am mid-anxiety attack and jotting down whatever comes to mind.”

Following the release of 30, fans are calling it Adele’s “best yet” and fiercely debating the ranking of their favourite songs on it.

However, one user tweeted, simply: “Adele has hacked this music thing.”

See more fan reactions here.

Roisin O'Connor19 November 2021 06:59

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