Four years is a long time, especially within the world of music. Most artists are lucky for their name to even be remembered after such a long period away from the mic. There’s only a handful of artists that can have the world on its knees begging for new material. Luckily for us, Adele decided to head to the recording studio, dust off the mic and drop what is hands down the best album of the year.
To say that “25” was one of the most anticipated albums to ever be released is an understatement. We had artists such as Sam Smith being called the “male Adele,” but it was like listening to a store brand knockoff version of the real thing. When the British songstress finally released the music video for her lead single “Hello” on YouTube it racked up millions upon millions of views in a matter of 24 hours and “25” became the first album to sell 3.38 million copies in just one week.
Adele is one of those artists whose songs can reach the depths of your emotions, invoke a whirlwind of feelings and move you to tears. The songs on “25” are no exception. The entire album is a flows seamlessly from one song to the next with each track having Adele’s soulful and raw signature sound.
Starting the album off is the lead single “Hello.” The track is classic Adele — a soulful ballad about a past relationship. The song starts off fairly slow with just Adele’s voice and a piano, then gradually builds up to a beautiful grand wall of layered vocals and instrumentals. The song is all about revisiting the ghosts of a past relationship and taking responsibility for things that might have happened in said relationship, which is something everyone can relate to. “Hello” has also spawned various memes and spoofs across social media websites due to a certain ‘80s tune but sorry Lionel Richie, this “Hello” is the better song.
At first glance the title “Send My Love (to Your New Lover)” reads like a catty Taylor Swift-ish response to a random ex. Now, Adele isn’t a stranger to venting about exes in songs in previous albums but going down the Taylor Swift road isn’t her style, she’s classier than that. Adele takes the high road while still sticking it to her ex singing that he should treat his new lover better and to “let go of all of our ghosts, you know we ain’t kids no more.” Never has there been a more creative way to say “screw you” to an ex.
“Million Years Ago” is a stripped down track with just Adele’s powerful low vocals and a guitar. The song is a raw and emotional retrospective about facing the realities of life and realizing that life sometimes isn’t a “party to be thrown.” The third track “I Miss You” explores Adele’s sexier side, something that most listeners probably aren’t use to. The sensual way she sings combined with the soul and R&B influenced drum and bass tracks makes for a downright sexy song.
The final track “Sweetest Devotion” the perfect closer and explores a side of Adele that hasn’t been explored on her previous albums — motherhood. “Sweetest Devotion” is such a happy and uplifting track where Adele sweetly professes her love and devotion to her three-year-old son. It’s a song that is guaranteed to bring you to tears. After all, it wouldn’t be an Adele album unless there were songs that reduce you to a bawling mess.
All in all, “25” isn’t just some album full of breakup ballads that Adele is famous for. It’s much more than that. “25” will go down in history as a modern classic. Adele isn’t the typical pop artist with subpar vocal range that relies of other songwriters. In fact, she’s far from that stereotype. Adele has the amazing ability to convey the widest range of emotions just with her voice. Her lyrics and the way she phrases things can invoke nostalgic feelings that listeners haven’t felt in a long time or refused to feel at all for whatever reason.
They’re aren’t many artists that can do that, and there’s not many that ever will.
So you can go home now Sam Smith, the queen has returned.
