0
Pop phenomenon Adele made a triumphant return to the world stage with her fourth studio album, 30. She is set to take The Brits by storm next month.
Whilst her other albums have navigated through love and loss, this album provided the context to the Londoner’s otherwise incredibly private life.
The album featured Easy On Me, which broke the record for the most streamed song in a single day on Spotify with 24 million global streams.
Within the first week, it had over 84 million, another record. The hit single set the tone for the rest of the album. Celebrity status aside, it is a woman finally admitting her marriage has failed.
There is empowerment in the lyrics and encouragement to others to put themselves first:
“I had good intentions / and the highest of hopes / but I know right now / it probably doesn’t even show. Adele conveys the hope many have in a hopeless situation and that there is freedom in the act of letting go.”
Upon releasing 30, Adele admitted the purpose of making it was to explain to her son in later years why change had to happen. Her rawest truth is perhaps most transparent in To Be Loved.
“The words speak for themselves: to be loved and love at the highest count / means to lose all the things I can’t live without.”
The album isn’t all about acceptance and grace. If you pay close attention to her lyrics, it journeys through the stages of grief.
Denial is manifested in Hold On, and it illustrates the hurt of holding on to something that is only causing you pain.
It is a concept many will relate to, and it describes fighting a losing battle; when you know you should leave but you just can’t.
The second stage is anger and Woman Like Me explains Adele’s frustration staying in a relationship with somebody who doesn’t see her worth.
This particular track resonated with me, as she perfectly describes how a person can mentally leave a relationship before physically separating from it.
The third stage is bargaining and can be seen in Can I Get It. The up-tempo sound juxtaposes Adele’s pleading. The desperation in this track is what most married couples will relate to;
“I have promised I will love you till the end of time / through it all, the good, the bad, the ugly and divine.”
Adele reaches the depression stage in Love Is A Game and she voices her fear of ever loving again when experiencing love is incomparable to experiencing loss.
Her exhaustion is laced in God only knows how I’ve cried / I can’t take another defeat / a next time would be the end of me.
Her final stage of acceptance is the strong point of this album. In Cry Your Heart Out, Adele coaches herself through heartbreak and forces herself to feel everything in order to move on.
There is power in her message; you can’t run forever. 30 is Adele at her most honest and ugliest self, yes. But, laying her broken marriage on an album and accepting accountability for its breakdown for the entire world to see is why 30 is also Adele at her most vulnerable.