If there is anyone who knows how to make a roaring comeback with little to no promotion beforehand, it is Adele. The now 33-year-old singer-songwriter has just released the lead single off her upcoming album “30,” titled “Easy on Me.”

In her own words in a recent Instagram live, Adele said that the album is about, “divorce babe, divorce.”

“Easy on Me” provides the familiar nature of Adele’s power ballads while also giving another perspective to the new experiences in her life. The album comes after a time of reflection for the contemporary pop singer.

“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… And so, I’m finally ready to put this album out,” Adele’s official announcement on her website stated.

The buzz around her return to the stage started long before the announcement of her upcoming album. After rumors started on social media that she was in the studio.

It was all but confirmed when Taylor Swift pushed back the rerelease of her album “Red” from Nov. 19 to Nov. 12.

Shortly after the announcement of “Easy on Me,” Adele announced that her fourth consecutive album, “30,” would be released Nov. 19.

“There’s only one other person someone as big as Taylor Swift would move over for, and it’s Adele,”. TikTok user @pablothedon said.
After a six-year hiatus, Adele’s stripped back vocals accompanied by only a piano are a refreshing and welcome sound in today’s music.

The song reveals new layers of Adele that perhaps haven’t been exposed in her previous work. It’s less of a letter to a lover and more of her pleading for perspective and understanding from the recipient. She’s asking to not be blamed for divorce and talks about how she tried her best to make it work.
“I had good intentions/and the highest hopes/but I know right now it probably doesn’t even show,” the song goes.

The crisp tone of her voice carries her story throughout the song, making additional production unnecessary. The song easily falls into Adele’s iconic storytelling. The opening lines, “There ain’t no gold/in this river/that I’ve been washing my hands in forever,” is a reference to searching for riches–read: love—in the water and never seeming to find any despite how hard she’s tried.

“30” finds Adele in a new era, and the listeners will be along for the ride.. Her vocals aren’t heavily rehearsed, rather they are the original demo recordings meant to keep the charisma of the first recording, according to her Vogue cover story.

In being more comfortable sharing this part of her life, “Easy on Me” is only the beginning of the next wave of ballads that are sure to come with the release of “30.”