4.5 Globes

On Oct. 14, 2021, 33-year-old Adele Laurie Blue Adkins, otherwise known as Adele, released a new song entitled “Easy On Me,” after announcing her highly anticipated album coming Nov. 19, 2021. The album, 30, is the fourth album which will be titled by her age at which she began the writing of her music. Following albums 19, 21, 25, after a three year hiatus on music 30 will be available on streaming services around the globe.

Throughout her life, Adele’s debut albums have made a mark on the music industry. With winning over 15 Grammy awards and one Oscar, her chart accomplishments broke records for number one album, top five albums and singles, and consecutive weeks held at the top of the charts. According to Nielsen Music, Adele’s album, 25, was the only album in 2015 to reach three million units sold in 10 days which broke industry records, with prior success with her song “Rolling in the Deep ‘” released in 2011 after a breakup with her first ‘real love’ was her first Billboard single. Independent newspaper covered the story of how the ballad came to be- an anger fueled trip to a recording studio with indie songwriter and producer Paul Epworth. The beat of the song was inspired by her heart beat while singing.

With her prior successes, after three years of writing and preparing for her anticipated album, Adele released a new hit single called “Easy On Me,” which is the first song released from the pop album. Adele, now 33, released a statement on her Instagram about the self-discovery involved in the creative process of producing the album. After going through a separation with husband Simon Konecki, grieving was a large part of living for the artist. She had the support of a close friend to help her get through the divorce. Becoming a single mom adds to the life changes during the time frame. The statement closes with, “Home is where the heart is x.”

After listening to this song, the beginning is dissonant, almost entrancing with the stream of piano notes. Adele’s voice reaches a much higher pitch than in her previous music releases, moving steadily through the lyrics. “Easy On Me” is fundamentally different from her other songs. The smooth, silvery tone going away and coming back again through the verses’ impacts the listeners by hearing how 30 might be. Adele’s powerful voice makes the riffs attention-grabbing while maintaining her emotional message. If the notion of being pushed to grow too soon is ignored, it could easily become the next top formal or wedding dance song for America or the United Kingdom.

Along with the song, the 5:32 minute long music video helped bring the characteristics of the song alive. The beginning creates a silent storytelling in black and white, paying attention to the small details. Moving away, physically and symbolically, can be a messy time for people. The switch from black and white to color in the music video is tear-jerking, showing Adele’s expressiveness and setting more accurately in the end.

On October 15, just one day after the song’s release on YouTube, “Easy On Me” reached Spotify’s record for the most-streamed song in a single day, which was previously held by the famous K-pop band BTS. Along with this, in the United Kingdom, the song has reached number one on the singles chart. Her brand new single is the cause of the biggest week of digital download sales in 2021 so far, recorded by the Official Charts company.

As of October 24, after being released for only one week, Easy On Me currently holds over 112 million views on YouTube.

The album, 30, is available for pre-order and pre-save on Apple Music and Spotify through the platforms and her website. The social media accounts labeled AdeleAccess is an official Adele page which releases professional updates which are at times also published on her personal account. An email list is available for everything Adele related.

On November 14, Adele will have a One Night Only special with CBS. The special will be two hours long and incorporate a performance along with an interview done by Oprah. Featured songs will be her classic hits and new songs off of “30.”