By Gio Battaglia / FM/Programming Director
Just when you need Adele most, she delivers her best.
On Fri. Nov 12, Adele released her fourth studio album, 30, a yin and yang track list consisting of songs about the hardship of love and divorce. This album comes after news about her split from husband Simon Konecki, and says it is a message to her son.
Adele keeps her soulful ballads throughout this album, but also introduces new experimental pop melodies that work in her favor.
The opener, “Strangers by Nature,” is part of this new sound from Adele. With an almost “The Sound of Music” orchestration, Adele can perfectly set up the tone of this album.
Adele does not waste time in tugging at the listener’s heartstrings. Track 3, “My Little Love,” is a love letter to her son, Angelo. She reveals conversations she has had with him to show the toll that divorce has taken on not just her, but him as well. Adele asks for forgiveness from her son in this track for not being able to give the perfect family she had dreamed of for him. But with the vocal snippets included in this track, you can see the everlasting love between Adele and Angelo.
After this heartbreaking track, Adele sets up the rest of the sound we hear on side A, with pop tracks such as “Cry Your Heart Out” and “Oh My God,” she shows more that she is capable of when it comes to creating, and how her voice can fit any style of music. However, while the underlying beats and melodies are more upbeat, the lyrics on these tracks are not watered down and keep a consistent theme of struggle.
On Side B, Adele pulls back the curtain and delivers her signature soulful ballads, while keeping a cohesive sound. The instrumentation on tracks like “I Drink Wine” and “Hold On” showcase the smoothness of Adele’s voice.
“To Be Loved” is the standout track from this album. With a simple piano track and Adele’s vocals, there is nothing simple on this song, and everything raw. While the lyrics on this song are not complex, it is not necessary on a track like this. “To Be Loved” showcases such a vulnerable state of mind from Adele. It’s almost like she pressed record and sang whatever her heart was feeling. It makes for such a numbing sound and will go down as one of her classics.
The closer of this album, “Love Is a Game” is a perfect conclusion the journey Adele has taken us on in this album. It combines all of the sounds we have heard on the album and unifies it into one beautiful song, a powerful finale.
30 cannot be compared to Adele’s previous work such as 25 and 21. It’s a new decade and Adele is writing from a new place. While she keeps the sound her fans know and love, she ventures out with new sounds, but makes for a united sound and deems another standard in Adele’s discography.