It may have sneaked under the radar slightly, but word was quietly put out earlier this week that Adele was releasing an album in the not too distant future.
Okay, so maybe it wasn’t so quiet, but if any act has the right to return to the public eye with a confident flourish, surely it’s Adele. In a music scene overrun with manufactured talentless screeching harpies, Adele has always unarguably been a good thing, her authenticity allowing her to stand proudly apart from her identikit contemporaries.
Of course, the big news was Adele’s forthcoming album, the not particularly originally named 25, however it has to be said that “Hello”, her first single for three years, is a smart and intelligent natural progression of her musical identity. There was only so far Adele could have gone with luxuriant production of her last album, so the simpler production was pretty much the only way she could have gone without repeating herself. “Hello” is a big and bold return to the charts, with Adele’s much-celebrated voice contrasting sharply with the fey-voiced starlets that have proliferated in her absence.
Yes, there will be people who roll their eyes at the fact that, due to 21 being the biggest selling album since the start of the century, 25 will inevitably be huge, to the point that it will receive blanket airplay, but really, that’s more down to radio stations breathing a sigh of relief at Adele’s return than anything else.
After a four year break, during which she became a parent, only taking time out to record a Bond theme, Adele has returned and not a moment too soon. And you know something? Parenthood and a stable relationship genuinely suit her.
“Hello” is out now, with 25 being released 20 November. Expect it to move a not insignificant amount of units.
