Adele drops an emotional brick on the gays with 30: Despair, divorce and wine
Adele has finally dropped her long-awaited fourth studio album 30, meaning fans are once again weeping into their pillows and knocking back wine like it’s going out of fashion.
The British singer released the hotly-anticipated album on Friday (19 November). The world had been waiting with bated breath for the record, which deals with the emotional destruction she felt in the aftermath of her divorce.
Most of the world will know by now that an Adele album is the perfect opportunity to wallow in your own sadness and get angry at an ex you haven’t seen in six years – but 30 is also so much more than your standard break-up album.
Fans rushed to Twitter with mascara running down their cheeks to share their thoughts on Adele’s magnum opus – and it’s safe to the verdict is very much in favour.
Adele fans embraced their gay despair as they listened to 30 for the first time
Some fans were preparing to call a divorce lawyer after listening to the album – even though they’re actually currently single.
My husband tomorrow: “good morning!”
Me after listening to #Adele one time: pic.twitter.com/lwlydDor6E
— Mike T (@majtague) November 19, 2021
I’m single but Adele has me ready to hire a divorce lawyer— Rose Dommu (@rosedommu) November 19, 2021
not adele’s new album making me wanna get a divorce when im not even married #adele30 pic.twitter.com/YDMALzTPcq— pop culture (@gagasyuyi) November 19, 2021
Others were fully embracing gay despair after listening to the album – because sometimes it’s better to just accept that you’re trapped in Sad Girl Autumn and you can’t get out.
https://twitter.com/mannynotes/status/1461496990978613250
me and the girls and gays listening to adele pic.twitter.com/yky4GoIqWH— sophia (@hellopugh) November 19, 2021
https://twitter.com/jcritty/status/1461533969946750980
Some songs hit harder than others – such as “My Little Love”, which features recordings of Adele speaking to her young son Angelo about how she’s been having “a lot of big feelings lately”.
Needless to say, people had a lot of feelings and they felt it was important to share with the group.
this literally how it feels listening to my little love #Adele #Adele30 pic.twitter.com/d7eHRYmZfU
— riasearch era 📚 (@moonlitvvinter) November 18, 2021
Me after listening to the ending voice memo in my little love #Adele30 #adele pic.twitter.com/QXzn6EwPac— Nick Hanson (@n1ckhanson) November 19, 2021
adele: *voice cracks on my little love*
me: #Adele pic.twitter.com/s88SVpyCxd— A.J. (@ajhisnandez) November 19, 2021
Others were impressed at just how quickly Adele got to the core of the album’s emotional centre – the album literally begins with the lyric “I’ll be taking flowers to the cemetery of my heart”.
“I’ll be taking flowers to the cemetery of my heart” ADELE IT HAS BEEN FIVE SECONDS. #Adele30 pic.twitter.com/Tzhd8gtgtU— abby (@villaneve15) November 19, 2021
A lot of people also related on a deep, spiritual level to “I Drink Wine”, which sees Adele ruminating on how she used to soak up everything as a child – but now she just soaks up wine.
"I Drink Wine" will be looping for the next 12 months 🥲#Adele #Adele30 pic.twitter.com/LmsgJZHWHy— Lex (@apdujua) November 18, 2021
Even beyond the album’s emotionally crushing lyrics, fans were also impressed by how different 30 sounds from Adele’s previous records – many heaped praise on the singer for experimenting with new genres and for shaking things up, firmly dispelling criticisms that she’s a one trick pony.
This is Adele’s most experimental album in terms of sound but it’s also so very well written and produced. Sonically and lyrically, it’s her most honest, diverse and mature body of work. If you can’t relate to at least one song, then maybe the problem is you. #Adele30 #Adele— IG: _ ☈OMEKO✨🇯🇲 (@_romeko) November 19, 2021
.@Adele I asked for a new album not a life altering piece of art— Colyn (@colynelliott) November 19, 2021
It wasn’t just fans who were in love with Adele’s new album either – 30 has won rave reviews, including a five star rating from Rolling Stone. The acclaimed music magazine declared that 30 is Adele’s best album yet.
“Adele has never sounded more ferocious than she does on 30 – more alive to her own feelings, more virtuosic at shaping them into songs in the key of her own damn life,” critic Rob Sheffield wrote.
The album also won a five star review from The Daily Telegraph, an 8/10 rating from Clash and four star reviews from the Evening Standard and The Independent, while The Guardian and NME gave the album three stars.
Adele wrote her new album to explain her divorce to her son
The album comes six years after Adele released her last record 25. The singer released “Easy On Me”, the lead single from 30, in October – and the song quickly sent shockwaves through the world as Adele’s remarkable, singular voice returned to the music industry after a long absence.
The song quickly skyrocketed to number one, while Adele sat down with Oprah for an in-depth interview about the heartbreaking personal difficulties she has faced since her last album was released – including the death of her father, with whom she had a complicated relationship.
In that time, Adele also divorced her husband Simon Konecki. The singer, who is now 33, separated from Konecki when she was 30 – which is why the album is named after that time in her life.
Speaking to Vogue in October, Adele explained that she wrote 30 to explain her divorce to her son Angelo in the hope that one day he will be able to go back and listen and understand what she was going through.
“I wanted to explain to him through this record, when he’s in his twenties or thirties, who I am and why I voluntarily chose to dismantle his entire life in pursuit of my own happiness,” Adele explained.
“It made him really unhappy sometimes. And that’s a real wound for me that I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to heal.”