Rumor has it … that a new Adele album is coming out, and in October 2021, the “Chasing Pavements” songstress finally announced a release date.
The Grammy winner announced the news in an Instagram post, telling fans that the new record, titled 30, would debut that November. “I was certainly nowhere near where I’d hoped to be when I first started [30] nearly 3 years ago,” she wrote. “I’ve learned a lot of blistering home truths about myself along the way. I’ve shed many layers but also wrapped myself in new ones. … I feel like I’ve finally found my feeling again. I’d go so far as to say that I’ve never felt more peaceful in my life.”
Since her last album, 25, came out in November 2015, the Oscar winner has experienced some upheavals at home. The British pop star and her ex-husband, Simon Konecki, called it quits in April 2019 after two years of marriage. The duo, who made their public debut in 2012, finalized their divorce in March 2021. They share son Angelo, born in October 2012.
Adele is usually tight-lipped about her personal life, but in a candid interview published ahead of 30‘s release, she admitted that her marriage wasn’t perfect.
“I was just going through the motions and I wasn’t happy,” she told Vogue in its November 2021 cover story. “Neither of us did anything wrong. Neither of us hurt each other or anything like that. It was just: I want my son to see me really love, and be loved. It’s really important to me.”
Earlier in 2021, the “Rolling in the Deep” singer was linked to sports agent Rich Paul after the pair were spotted together at the NBA Finals in July. Adele later told Vogue that the couple were friends for a couple of years before their relationship turned romantic.
“I don’t feel anxious or nervous or frazzled. It’s quite the opposite,” she said of her new romance. “I’m a 33-year-old divorced mother of a son, who’s actually in charge. The last thing I need is someone who doesn’t know where they’re at, or what they want. I know what I want.”
While some fans might hope to hear a sunnier side of Adele after three albums full of heartbreaking tunes, an early teaser of first single “Easy on Me” suggested that more sad songs are on the way. In her Vogue interview, the British pop star hesitated to describe 30 as a divorce album, but she did say that it was far more personal than her previous work.
“It’s sensitive for me, this record, just in how much I love it,” she explained. “I always say that 21 doesn’t belong to me anymore. Everyone else took it into their hearts so much. I’m not letting go of this one. This is my album.”
No matter what it sounds like, though, there’s no question that 30 will be a massive hit. In 2012, Adele became the second artist ever — and first woman — to have won Grammys in each of the awards show’s “Big Four” categories: Best New Artist, Record of the Year, Song of the Year and Album of the Year. Only one other artist, Billie Eilish, has done it since.
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