Adele reveals that she considered not releasing '30'
Adele has revealed that she considered not releasing her fourth album ’30’.
The singer-songwriter’s new record – the follow-up to 2015’s ’25’ – is due to arrive this Friday (November 19), having been previewed by the comeback track ‘Easy On Me’ as well as ‘Hold On’.
Adele previously confirmed that the new material delves into the aftermath of her 2019 divorce from Simon Konecki, explaining that ’30’ was her most personal and “sensitive” album to date.
During a new interview with Zane Lowe on Apple Music 1, which aired today (November 17), the star said: “There were moments when I was writing these songs – and even when I was mixing them and stuff like that – where I was like, ‘Maybe I don’t need to put this album out. Like maybe I should write another’.”
She continued: “Just because music is my therapy. I’m never going into the studio to be like, ‘Right, I need another hit’. It’s not like that for me. When something is more powerful and overwhelming than me, I like to go to a studio because it’s normally a basement and there’s no fucking windows and no reception, so no one can get ahold of me.
Elsewhere in the conversation, Adele said she initially wanted ’30’ to come out in 2020 before it was pushed back due to the coronavirus pandemic.
“And I drunkenly announced it at my best friend’s wedding on the stage. ‘Expect my album in September’, to a room full of people I don’t fucking know,” she recalled. “But I wouldn’t know I’d be announcing it to everyone that already pretty much knew anyway. Who the fuck did I think I was?”
Explaining that ’30’ was “done” at that point, apart from some backing vocals and orchestral elements, Adele said the album was “such an integral piece to my life story over the last few years, that I wanted it to come out”.
“Because, when it does come out, it’s the final door closing on that chapter of my life,” she continued. “So it feels like it’s dragged out for me a little bit.”
You can watch the full interview in the video above.
In a three-star review of ’30’, NME wrote: “This devastating level of honesty means that, despite its more experimental moments, ‘30’ still winds up feeling like trademark Adele, in its own way, most of the time. And after fair accusations of playing it safe musically in the past, it’s refreshing to see the pop titan treading braver territory – even if the hit-rate isn’t 100 per cent.”
Adele will showcase the record during an ITV special, An Audience With Adele, this Sunday (November 21).
