Jack Brown ’17

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After rumors of Adele quitting music altogether, her new album, 25, comes as a shock to many of her fans, who considered her to be completely finished in the industry. Adele announced on October 21st via her Facebook page that she would be releasing what she called “a make-up record.” This album titled 25 focuses on Adele’s life and the changes it is going through as she leaves late adolescence and moves on to become a “fully-fledged adult” at the age of 25. The lead single “Hello” has already caught large amounts of attention, released on the 23rd of October and already stacking up more than 120 million views after only a few days.

The themes Adele has used in this song and plans to use for the rest of this upcoming album have been an important part of her musical career throughout her three albums 19, 21, and 25 as she continues to chronicle her life through music. The first song in this album released has set the stage for the rest of Adele’s story, discussing the main concerns that she plans to address throughout 25.

Adele expressed her reasons for writing this album when she released the announcement on Facebook that she would be writing 25. She talks about how her past has influenced her writing as well as how turning 25 is a turning point that has changed the way she thinks. She also expresses how she is apologetic for how long it has taken for her to realize that she needs to write this album. Adele’s message is accompanied by the single “Hello” which sets the precedent for the rest of 25, further explaining her motives for producing this album.

“Hello” is a fitting title for the leading song of an album in which Adele looks into her life thus far and how experiences have shaped her. This song is a monologue detailing the intricacies of Adele’s relationship with herself as she “makes up” for how she has lived. Adele uses the first few lines of “Hello” to show her wariness yet curiosity at rediscovering herself, inviting herself to review the span of her own past experience. Through her example, Adele encourages us to look back at life to seriously consider how the positive, confusing, and even painful memories can contribute to who you are and whom you will become. (For the video of “Hello” click here.)

Adele plans to release this album on November 20th. Until then fans can only wait as Adele finishes producing the accompanying songs for 25.