Album Review of 30 by Adele

After many hints and speculation surrounding the potential of a new album, Adele finally released her fourth studio album, 30. Being that Adele is basically an emotional powerhouse and the queen of ballads, this album was highly anticipated after the announcement of her divorce from Simon Konecki. This album was also long awaited due to the time between its’ release and her previous album being six years. However, one thing about Adele, she may basically go into hiding after releasing her albums, but boy does she come back into the scene swinging!

I have been an Adele fan since her first album, 19, and I basically ran my CD of 21 into the ground whenever I was in high school, so it is no surprise that this album was at the top of my radar once it was announced. After not having an album for six years, I was a bit nervous to see how her style or sound had changed but those concerns were immediately eased with the release of her first single for this record, “Easy On Me”. “Easy On Me” showed fans that Adele still has the power to make us feel and that her voice continues to get better with age.

Before we actually get into the review, I wanted to add a quick note over the deal Adele made with Spotify. Before the release of this album, Adele got Spotify to remove shuffle as the default option of albums in order to encourage fans to listen to the album in order. I absolutely love that she did that because I am a very strong believer in listening to albums in order upon first listen. It is also refreshing because the fact that she worked so hard to get Spotify to change the default just drives in the point that there is so much meaning and art behind this collection of songs.

The album opens up with the song, “Strangers By Nature”, and gives listeners a bit of a darker sound than they may have possibly expected from Adele but for me, it really set the tone that this collection of songs to follow were going to be filled with real emotions. Following “Strangers By Nature” is “Easy On Me”, which is probably the most classic Adele sounding song on the album, and I absolutely love it. It is honest, vulnerable, and everything that makes people become a fan of Adele. 

The third song on the album, and the most notable of the whole collection in my opinion, is “My Little Love”. This song absolutely blew me away! This song is basically her communicating with her son about the things going on with her and his father, her being honest with her emotions, and having those difficult conversations that come with divorce, while also not putting all of blame and hate on her ex-husband. I honestly respect Adele so much for the way she appears to discuss these topics with her son, acknowledging her own emotions, and being honest with him about the whole ordeal. The lyrics also reflect the confusion and heartbreak that comes with not only splitting up as a couple, but also as a family. My favorite lyric is “Tell me, do you feel the way my past aches, when you lay on me, can you hear the way my heart breaks” because as children, many times we may not really feel how much our parents are hurting over things like this. I usually don’t like songs that have spoken clips in them but in this case, I really enjoyed it and hearing her son’s accent was also so adorable. The song gives a sort of lounge singer vibe while also tapping into those soul and R&B influences. All and all, this was definitely my favorite track on this album and this song in and of itself is art.

Following “My Little Love” is a series of songs that act as more of a pick me up for when you are feeling down or in your feelings. These songs basically tell the listener that it is totally okay to be hurt and sad over something like a relationship ending but we can also move forward. “Cry Your Heart Out”, “Oh My God”, and “Can I Get It” really emulate that type of feeling. Of the three, “Oh My God” was probably my favorite “upbeat” song of the collection and I find myself bopping my head to it every time I hear it. The next song is “I Drink Wine” and at first I didn’t quite find myself enjoying this song, but upon a second listen, I ended up really appreciating the lyrics. This song is a great example of Adele’s experience with fame and I started to really enjoy listening to her share her experience through that song. I appreciate the lyric “I hope I learn to get over myself” because sometimes we all need that sort of reality check and it is nice knowing Adele feels that too. Another lyric that gives us an insight into her relationship with Simon is “Everybody wants something from me, you just want me.” To sum it up, this song ended up winning me over after my initial feeling of “meh” to me enjoying another example of Adele being not only real with us as listeners, but herself.

The next song, “All Night Parking”, features a sample from the late jazz pianist, Erroll Garner’s, song “No More Shadows” and makes for a lovely jazz tune with a hint of R&B influences. This song made me feel like I should be in a dark lounge sipping on a dirty martini. Following that song is “Woman Like Me”, which provides a good easy listening sound while also delivering a little dig towards her ex husband and the ending of their relationship. The next song, “Hold On”, is another very classic Adele sounding song to give older fans a feel of what they keep coming back for. Following “Hold On” is another work of art that gives listeners a real look into her heart ache and emotions surrounding her divorce. “To Be Loved” is such an honest song and I truly got goose bumps the first time I heard it. Her belting the lyrics “let it be known that I tried” made my heart hurt and I am not even going through a break up. This song features an array of lyrics highlighting all of her feelings and emotions over her divorce and really solidified how much of her hurt she put into this album. It is definitely another one of my favorites out of the whole collection. Rounding out the album is the song “Love Is A Game”, making for a great closing song. It shows us a more cynical side to love but also indicates that although love is a game for fools, she still remains a fool, leaving us with the impression that this divorce hasn’t made her give up on love quite yet.

photo from Rollingstone.com

Now that we went over the flow and content of the album, I can give my overall thoughts. For starters, I absolutely love that Adele knows what her fans want and continues to deliver with each album. She puts her entire heart and soul into each body of work she releases and this record was no exception. With 21 being one of the greatest heartbreak albums of the 21st Century, the expectations for this album to deliver her vulnerable expression of her pain were high and I think those expectations were met. I appreciate how she not only let us into the inner workings of her hurt, but also the hurt that comes with having a child of divorce. A divorce album isn’t anything new but incorporating the aspect of having a child in the mix in the graceful way that she did was just brilliant. As always, I respect an artist any time they experiment with their sound and occasionally those experiments are not always a success but with 30, the different styles Adele tried worked very well within this body of work. I appreciate that she tried new things while also keeping true to the sound that her fans know and love. As I mentioned earlier, I don’t usually like too much spoken word added into songs but the way she did it throughout the album complemented the feelings she was putting into the songs and made me feel as if I was having a wine night at my best friend’s house while she was pouring her heart out over a heart break. This, of course, just adds to my point about her meeting those expectations of vulnerability.

To sum it up, it is so refreshing to have new music from Adele after six years. The way she tapped into the feelings she has surrounding this current phase of her life was well done and met the expectations of fans while also throwing in some surprises that will continue to keep fans on their toes for future releases. For my actual rating, I give this album an 8 out of 10.

Let me know what you thought of Adele’s newest album, 30, in the comments!