“Easy on Me” by Adele, Saturday, October 16, 2021

October 16, 2021

On October 1st this year, signs and wonders and rumors of a fourth album by international superstar Adele appeared around the globe. The singer has been dropping hints of a new record since 2019; however, the recording process was delayed in 2020 due to the pandemic. Adele is a relatively reclusive pop star, taking long breaks between albums and rarely offering fans singles in between. In 2020, she emerged 100 lbs lighter, flexing her acting and comedy muscles hosting Saturday Night Live. Fans were shocked at her acting range as she wasn’t even the musical featured guest. But in true Adele fashion, the British singer kept a low profile after the comedy performance until this Fall. Billboards and holographic writing appeared on the Empire State Building, at the Louvre, and the side of the Colosseum among other landmarks with the number 30. Adele fans around the world began to speculate about the singer’s follow up to her Diamond-certified 2015 masterpiece, 25.

I KNOW THERE’S HOPE IN THESE WATERS. The teaser went like this: a return to social media platforms, a black-and-white video teaser in which Adele gets in the car to the tune of a melancholy piano, she puts a tape in the car’s cassette player, we see that she is moving—the house is sold, her belongings in trucks—then sheet music comes flying out of the moving truck ahead. A few days later, Adele sang the first verse of the song on Instagram Live. Yesterday, Adele released the full-length video and the single on streaming platforms. Adele’s age series means something to the artist. The songs reflect the artist’s perspective at that age. On the artist’s 31st birthday, in 2019, Adele uploaded black and white photos to her Instagram with the caption: “30 will be a drum n bass record to spite you.” Adele had separated from her husband in 2018, and 30 would be the record that she would process the unhappiness she felt in her marriage.

BUT I CAN’T BRING MYSELF TO SWIM. “Hello” was a follow up to “Someone Like You.” Likewise, “Easy on Me” is a follow up to “Hello.” The music videos for “Easy” and “Hello” were both directed by Xavier Dolan, and “Easy on Me,” depicts the singer moving on with her life—full make-up, almost Lana Del Rey style. Adele’s plea is for the press and the people in her life to go easy on her for the mistakes that she’s made. She fell out of love with her partner. The press only wanted more details. But most of all, her now 10 year old son didn’t understand why the couple divorced. Adele’s new single and upcoming album will attempt to explain to her son why she left a relationship that was “going through the motions” in order pursue happiness and the possibility of true love.