The world had to wait six years for Adele’s fourth album, but that didn’t stop her previous records from continuing to set records in the world charts. Thus, 21 became the best-selling album of the 2010s (and the new century in general), and 25 was right behind it. So the singer set the bar high and it’s time to find out if she herself was able to jump up to it.
This is my first Adele album, and the sound really surprised me. I always thought Adele relies on touching ballads, orchestral arrangements, loud vocals, and her albums are closer to soul and R&B. Of the past singles, only Send My Love (To Your New Lover) (among the ones I’ve heard) broke out of that notion of mine.
30 turned out to be a pop album, in places quite immature for an artist like Adele, but generally interesting and diverse. It feels like the goal was to make the album more pop, fun and moving – fitting for the new Adele, inspired by her favorite contemporary pop artists. But at the same time, the singer and producers didn’t want to upset old fans. By the way, there are not many producers here: only her longtime friend Greg Kirstin, Inflo and a bit of Ludwig Göransson helped the singer.
In general, for some reason I expected something majestic, tearing my soul to pieces from 30, but the result of Adele suits me much better: it’s a mixture of soul and jazz with modern light pop music. Except that after a couple of listens I didn’t even memorize any of the songs because of my surprise. On the other hand, it’s nice that Adele survived her divorce in such a way that she doesn’t have to be hysterical and angry on every track – because then she would have to relive all the negativity again every concert.
Besides the sound I was also surprised by the singer’s voice. Before I couldn’t listen to her timbre at all, especially in live performances – Adele is also a fan of getting out of tune when she’s emotional (or because of still existing stage fright). On 30 her voice sounds very pleasant, and there are not so many screams, even on emotional songs about divorce. Perhaps, only on To Be Loved the screams hurt my ears – but they kind of fit the meaning there.
Well, I’ll move from general impressions to specific ones and go through the songs.
Strangers By Nature and Love is a Game frame the album and both remind me of classic pop music or soundtracks to old Hollywood movies. And Easy on Me sounds like a classic Adele hit from the first minute: a dramatic piano ballad. And it’s not for nothing that this song was released as the main single – in my opinion, it’s the best song on the album. Pleasant, light, elegant but emotional – a great track that will appeal to listeners with completely different tastes.
My Little Love reminds us that this is a divorce album after all. And then, between jazz harmonies, we hear the singer telling her son about her emotions after the separation.
I’m not sure how ethical it is to include a recording of your child’s voice on an album that will be listened to by a hundred million people, but on the other hand, all the personal lyrics in the song refer only to Adele and her personal life.
Cry Your Heart Out stays in classic soundtrack territory, but the tempo increases here, even though on this fun doo-wop song the artist talks about her depression.
But my favorite songs on the album were Oh My God and Can I Get It. It felt like they were the unnoticeable climax and Adele’s main pop experiment on this album.
Oh My God is a sensual and vulgar song of a young, single and confident mom. Can I Get It is a classic Max Martin track, where the chorus is more important than the verse, and the lead is even more important than the chorus. So we start with acoustics, then the beat comes in, and then the catchy melody of the playback. And of course this whistling reminds me of Scorpions.
Next comes another pop number with gospel elements, I Drink Wine, and this song is already announced as the next single. I found the track too long, and a new three-minute version for radio is needed. Woman Like Me is also noteworthy – an R&B ode to a breakup.
But in general, by the second half, the album started to feel a bit dragged out. Maybe because so many of the songs on the album are longer than six minutes, and they can just bore the listener?
Adele used to be often accused of not developing as an artist, not changing her image with each album. But now the singer has changed: not only in appearance, but also allowed herself some experiments in the studio. Of course, on the album you can hear the usual elements of jazz, soul, blues, but Adele also tried to add a spark in the form of pop songs with a set of clichés. The result is a good, enjoyable album where Adele tries to change her sound, but still the main elements of the magic of her music remain in place: her voice, her lyrics and her magical aura.
