Adele is gearing up to release her fourth studio album, which fans believe is titled 30 due to mysterious billboards that have popped up around the world. The British singer recently sat down with British and American Vogue to share several details about the upcoming release, including lyrical content, song inspirations and overarching themes on the album.
Below, we’ve rounded up the most important revelations from Adele’s interviews with Vogue.
Don’t Expect a “Hello” Anthem
In Adele’s interview, she mentioned that she hasn’t tried to replicate the success of “Hello,” which hit the No. 1 spot on the Billboard Hot 100 in 2015. “I don’t want another song like that. That song catapulted me in fame to another level that I don’t want to happen again. I’m not saying I’ve got ‘Hello’s in my pocket. I was just conscious that I didn’t want my story on this album to sound like that,” the singer explained.
It’s Her Most Personal Album
“It’s sensitive for me, this record, just in how much I love it,” Adele told American Vogue. “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. I want to share myself with everyone, but I don’t think I’ll ever let this one go.”
The “Rolling In the Deep” singer also shared that she placed her personal interests at the forefront of making the record. “I was drunk as a fart on 21; I really don’t remember much, I just remember being really sad. On 25, I was obviously sober as anything, because I was a new mum. That one, I was sort of more in tune with what I thought people might want or not want. With this one,” she said of the upcoming release, “I made the very conscious decision to be like, for the first time in my life, actually, ‘What do I want?’”
“I feel like this album is self-destruction,” Adele added, “then self-reflection and then sort of self-redemption. But I feel ready. I really want people to hear my side of the story this time.”
Though the 33-year-old spent a large portion of her interview discussing her divorce from ex-husband Simon Konecki, fans shouldn’t expect the album to be solely about their split. “I assumed it would be about my divorce, but it’s kind of not,” with the magazine describing the body of work as “her usual singer-songwriter gear to midnight chanteuse to chilled Balearic club at sundown.”
Several Lyrics Have Been Released
The singer revealed that “Easy On Me” will be the first single from the album after sharing a snippet of the song on Oct. 5. The clip didn’t include any lyrics, but the feature revealed some lines from the piano-heavy track: “Go easy on me baby/ I was still a child/ Didn’t get the chance to/ Feel the world around me.”
Adele did not share any of the song’s titles with the interviewers, but the writers shared two additional sets of lyrics: “My little love/ I see your eyes/ Widen like an ocean/ When you look at me/ So full of my emotions” and “I just want to love you for free/ Everybody wants something from me/ You just want me,” lines from two separate songs.
There Are No Traditional Features
While there are no official artist features on Adele’s album, the singer did incorporate VoiceNotes from Tyler, the Creator and Skepta on the record. “I thought it might be a nice touch, seeing as everyone’s been at my door for the last 10 years, as a fan, to be like, Would you like to come in?” she said.
Adele’s friends also make an appearance on the record, singing the words “Just hold on, just hold on,” over and over on a gospel-infused track. “The thing that they’re all singing is what my friends used to say to me,” she explained. “That’s why I wanted them to sing it, rather than an actual choir.”
